Going Global: The Transformation of the Korean Catholic Church

Abstract:This paper examines the ''globalization'' of the Korean Catholic Church (KCC). Despite its short history, the KCC has been transformed from a Church receiving missionaries and economic support to one sending them. The KCC has not only sent missionaries abroad, but has engaged in international development through its financial support and by running international developmental NGOs. This paper examines the ecclesial and social factors that have brought about this transformation in the KCC and contemplates its implications for global and Korean Catholicism. Among ecclesial factors, it highlights not merely the KCC's growth but also the decline of religious and priestly vocations in traditionally Catholic countries of the West. It also stresses Korea's globalization as a social factor. The KCC's globalization challenges the conventional stereotype of both the ''Christian West'' and ''Confucian Korea.'' Contemporary Korea is influenced by Christianity, both Protestantism and Catholicism, no less than Confucianism. Moreover, it denotes that Catholicism has not been exhausted by the West, but is being enriched by Korean Catholics.