Two hundred South Korean priests have celebrated a street Mass in Seoul to protest an unpopular government decision to resume beef imports from the US.
UCA News reports the priests urged the government to listen to the voice of the people and renegotiate a beef import agreement that has stirred protests across South Korea.
The Catholic Priests' Association for Justice (CPAJ) organised the Mass in front of City Hall after the government violently suppressed candlelight protest vigils. About 20,000 people, not all Catholics, joined in the Mass with lit candles.
CPAJ president Father Simon Chun Jong-hun read out a statement during the homily: "Now, tragic events that we cannot bear to watch are happening. We are angry at the government's violence against the people."
The priests asserted that the government has betrayed its duty to protect public health, and riot police are now clubbing people to suppress public opinion.
On April 18, President Lee Myung-bak agreed to resume US beef imports, including beef from cattle older than 30 months, believed more at risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or "mad cow" disease, than younger animals. South Korea suspended US beef imports in late 2003 after cases of mad cow disease were discovered.
Starting May 2, South Koreans held candlelight vigils across the country to protest the agreement. President Lee apologised twice and conducted an "additional" negotiation on the import terms.
After discussions in Washington, DC, the South Korean government announced on June 21 that it agreed to a "Quality System Assessment" (QSA) program, in which the United States will export only beef from cattle aged less than 30 months.
On June 26, the Korean government resumed US beef imports, and since then it has used riot police to suppress the "illegal" candlelight vigils.
"Lamenting the arrogance and ignorance of President Lee, his Cabinet and the ruling Grand National Party, we rebuke their fallen conscience in the name of the Church," the priests' statement says.
"Reflecting on the Gospel words, 'a light that darkness could not overpower (John 1:5),' we support the candlelight vigils. We, priests, will protect the sublime candlelight against the violence of the riot police along with Religious and the faithful," it adds.
After Mass, the people peacefully marched through downtown Seoul for an hour, led by mostly nuns and priests.
Gemma Lee Hyo-jin, a Mass participant, told UCA News: "The government is branding the candlelight vigils as violent demonstrations and trying to dismiss them with riot police. The priests' joining the vigil is very helpful for us who demand real renegotiation." She added, "As a Catholic I'm very proud of the priests who work for democracy in the country."
Redemptorist Father Casimir Kwon Oh-sang, who joined the Mass, told UCA News the government has lost its credibility by "making an unfair agreement with the United States and forcing the people to accept it, treating them like slaves."
New vision of development needed
Meanwhile, a Catholic agency, Progressio, has told the United Nations that the world's most critical environmental and social problems will only be solved by "a new vision of development", Ekklesia reports.
The comments came from Progressio's Head of Advocacy Joanne Green at a summit meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York yesterday.
Addressing heads of government and NGO representatives from around the world and speaking alongside the UK's Director of Policy and Research in the Department for International Development, Andrew Steer, Ms Green stated that the current world food crisis and spiralling environmental degradation are symptoms of deeper problems and should prompt the world to look at "the fundamental flaws in the Northern economic development model".
As part of this "new vision for development", Progressio - one of two British NGOs invited to speak as part of the UK delegation to ECOSOC's high level segment to assess progress towards the UN’s Millennium Development Goals - outlined the need for a more people centred food system that promotes the needs of poor producers and consumers in the developing world.
Multinational companies and a relentless drive from the North to promote profit over people are also partly to blame, said Green.
"Instead of prompting us to question the current paradigm, such crises [as the global food shortage], provide opportunities for developed countries and multinational companies to push for solutions that further promote their interests."
Instead, Ms Green argued that poor countries must be allowed to determine how they feed themselves in the next new era of food production, pointing to a recent UN report which championed the need for much greater focus on small-scale agriculture.
Joanne Green also called for northern consumers to be "honest about the impact our consumer choices have on poor people in the south and their environments" and said governments must move beyond short-term technological fixes, such as GM and agrofuels, to address the "long-ignored root causes of food crises and other problems."
Ms Green called for a radically different reality of development and globalisation backed up by "a global social contract" that brings together Northern governments, food producers and consumers with their southern counterparts.
LINKS
Priests Hold Mass To Support Candlelight Vigils, Protest U.S. Beef Imports (UCA News, 3/7/08)
'New vision of development' needed Catholic agency tells UN (Ekklesia, 3/7/08)
SOURCE
Progressio