It all begins with the heart. Religious leaders' hopes for the year ahead
With the new year just around the corner, South Korea’s religious leaders sent New Year’s messages calling for harmony amid lingering social divisions.
The Ven. Jinwoo, president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, urged people to “set down the fire of anger and light the fire of wisdom and compassion, so that we may warm one another’s hearts in the year ahead,” in his New Year’s message released on Monday. The Jogye Order is the largest Buddhist sect in Korea.
He added that confusion and conflict begin not outside but within the mind, noting that impatience hardens language and obsession deepens division.
“What we need now is not to blame one another, but to give ourselves the space to pause and turn our hearts inward.”
A similar appeal came from the head of the Cheontae Order of Korean Buddhism, the Ven. Deoksu, who encouraged people to reclaim their “pure original mind” in the new year and to practice with unwavering resolve. “What this era needs most is altruism,” he said.
From the Catholic Church, Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul echoed the theme of reconciliation, saying that when love and peace are put into practice, “Christ’s salvation will be made more vividly present and visible in our daily lives and in the world.”
The archbishop also thanked the public for what he described as a year that tested the nation.
“Over the past year, we overcame profound turmoil and, in the process of forming a new government, showed the world a level of democratic maturity that drew admiration,” he said. He added that he was “sincerely praying that the government will move forward step by step toward sustainable development and a more harmonious society.”
Protestant groups likewise emphasized healing and solidarity.
President Rev. Jung Hoon and General-Secretary Park Seung-ryoul of the National Council of Churches in Korea — one of the four largest Protestant alliances in the country — reflected on the past year as one of unprecedented trials but also of renewed passion for democracy.
“We must now move beyond cycles of confrontation and opposition toward genuine peace and reconciliation,” they said.
Rev. Kim Chung-suk, president of the United Christian Churches of Korea, called on people to choose encouragement over criticism and love over condemnation during a time of deepening conflict and division.
“In an age of confusion, we must fix our eyes on the unchanging light of truth,” Rev. Kim said, adding that love becomes most powerful “when the mind, the heart and the hands act as one.”
“We must live out love in our daily lives, extending warm care to marginalized neighbors and offering hope and consolation to young people facing an uncertain future.”
Kim Ryoung-ha, the president of the Association of Korea National Religions, also addressed the coming year, expressing hope that the country would “leap energetically over the many conflicts and difficulties our society faces, like a galloping horse, and become a year of warmth in which we embrace and understand one another.”
What the moment requires, he added, “is not walls that divide us, but bridges that allow us to walk together.”
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