The head monk of Seonggwansa Temple, who took off his shoes and stepped forward for the Catholic event where the Pope participated

Seongjin Seunim, a member of the ‘Religious People’s Meeting Choir’
Served as a director of the 2027 World Youth Day Organizing Committee
“I sympathize with the festival’s purpose of transcending religion”

Seongjin Seonim, who served as a director of the 2027 Seoul World Youth Day Organizing Committee. Seongjin Seonim said, “I gladly participated in the hope that inter-religious harmony would become an important value in our society.” Reporter Lee Jin-gu [email protected]

“I hope that inter-religious harmony will become an important value in our society.”

On the 15th, Venerable Seongjin, the head monk of Seonggwansa Temple (Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism) in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, explained the reason for his appointment as a director of the ‘2027 Seoul World Youth Day Organizing Committee’ (Chairman Archbishop Jeong Sun-taek). Founded by Pope John Paul II in 1984, the event is a large-scale international event where millions of Catholic youth from around the world gather in one place, and even the Pope attends. In preparation for the event, the Catholic Church in Korea held an inaugural ceremony for the organizing committee at the Seoul Archdiocese Office in Myeongdong, Seoul in the middle of last month and appointed a board of directors. Venerable Seongjin is the only non-Catholic among the currently appointed directors.

Seongjin said, “I think I liked the efforts made by the Mannam Choir, which consists of priests, pastors, and religious affairs (Won Buddhism), to promote harmony between religions,” and “I agreed with the idea of ​​making it a festival for all the people, transcending religion and generations, and that’s why I decided to participate.” He said that although it hasn’t developed into a major social problem like in other countries, conflicts and friction due to religious reasons are increasing in our society.

“If you look closely at the trees installed in public places like airports and train stations during Christmas, you will see that they do not have crosses. Instead, they have stars. There are strong protests about why public institutions are promoting a specific religion. There are also places where there is friction over the construction of Islamic temples. If we do not make an effort to understand each other from now on, the conflict will only grow bigger.”

“Shouldn’t religion, which should play a role in easing social conflict, not become the cause of conflict instead?” said Monk Seongjin. “In order to do that, religious people need to break down the walls first.” As part of these efforts, Monk Seongjin and the Mannam Choir will sing about peace and harmony between religions at the 5th International Peace Conference (2024 ICCGC-CoNGO) held at the United Nations Headquarters Church Center in New York, USA on the 26th and 27th. They will also hold a busking performance at New York’s Washington Square Park and a talk concert with young people at a temple and a Korean church in New Jersey.

Monk Seongjin said, “I think the first step toward inter-religious harmony is when pastors, priests, clergy, and monks from each religion mingle together without anyone feeling strange or awkward.” He added, “Singing songs together by the four major religions and helping out at events held by other religions are also part of that effort.”

Reporter Lee Jin-goo [email protected]

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2024-08-25 22:51:16