12/05/2013, 00.00
SOUTH KOREA
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Seoul, Chondogyo members join anti-Park protests: She has created chaos in the country

by Joseph Yun Li-sun
The followers of the syncretic religion , about 3 million throughout Korea , announce a public manifesto against the executive. The Blue House "has considerably reduced people’s confidence in the State ."

Seoul ( AsiaNews) - Religions are increasingly united in their stand against abuses committed by the South Korean National Intelligence Service (Nis) and the attitude of President Park Geun - hye, who instead of opening an investigation into the allegations made by the democrat opposition has launched a smear campaign against any opponent. Particularly at the expense of a Catholic priest, Fr . Park, who finds himself in the middle of a violent political campaign after having made some very controversial statements during a sermon.

After Catholics , Protestants and Buddhists, even Chondogysts took to the streets in Seoul yesterday to announce the publication of a manifesto against the Blue House - the residence of the South Korean president - and ask for " justice and truth." Religious leaders have asked Park to manage " in a responsible way " NIS interference during the presidential elections in December 2012, which Park won by a narrow margin against the democrat Moon Jae -in .

The group also rejected the executive's labeling "a traitor" all those who ask for truth and justice : according to one of the placards displayed during the event (see photo) "religions do not create division and confusion; Park and the political interference in the institutions have plunged the country into chaos and reduced public confidence in the State . "

Chondogyo (literally means " teaching the way of Heaven " ) is a monotheistic and syncretistic religion born between the nineteenth and twentieth century in Korea. It is a faith related to the nationalist and spiritual Donghak movement, whose primary goal was to revitalize the traditional Korean culture in the face of increasingly vexing imposition of Western mores and customs . From the doctrinal point of view, Chondogyo is a syncretism of Buddhism , Taoism, Confucianism , shamanism and ancestral Korean Christianity. From Christianity in particular the Chondogyo have drawn their organizational approach to society. At the moment this faith is practiced by about three million people.

On 22 November, a priest of the Diocese of Jeonju was targeted for having given a homily that was highly critical of the executive and attacking the militaristic policy of the government, which "forces" the DPRK to respond with military acts . The South Korean government lashed out at Fr. Park Chang -shin , accused of being an "enemy of the fatherland" and placed him under investigation for "various criminal charges". The archbishop of Seoul , Msgr. Andrew Yeom Soo- jung , said that Catholics " have a duty to address political issues " but urged priests and consecrated persons to act " prudently , without direct involvement ."

 

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