CHEONGJU, Korea (UCAN) -- Exchanges between Catholic and Protestant Churches in South Korea continue to inspire trust and a spirit of sharing during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

"We are not different religions, although many may think so," Auxiliary Bishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong of Kwangju said during his homily at an ecumenical prayer service on Jan. 23 at Sudong Anglican Church in Cheongju, 110 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

"They even call it conversion when one moves to another Church. But we are not different religions, and it is not a change to another religion if a Catholic becomes a Protestant or vice versa," said Bishop Kim, president of the Korean Catholic bishops' Committee for Promoting Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue.

Pointing out that all Christians are baptized in Christ, the bishop pleaded with Christians to "overcome their prejudice" against each other.

The National Council of Churches in Korea and the Catholic committee for promoting Christian unity jointly held the prayer service. The Christian unity week is observed annually Jan. 18-25 in many places around the world.

The prayer service began with an Anglican priests' choir singing chants as seven Catholic and Protestant clerics walked to the altar to place candles. Following this came an opening prayer by a Presbyterian minister and the Lord's Prayer, said by the 200 Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian participants in their respective denomination's wording.

A Catholic nun, Anglican student and Anglican priest presented the first and second Bible readings and the Gospel of the day, respectively.

He Makes the Deaf Hear and the Dumb Speak was the theme of the meeting. The Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches jointly set the theme and prepare materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity each year.

Worshippers also prayed the Nicene-Constantinople Creed, the only profession of the Christian faith common to the Catholic Church, all Eastern Churches separated from Rome and most Protestant denominations. Those gathered also confessed their sins and sought forgiveness from God, with this part of the service led by a Catholic priest.

In his homily, Bishop Kim said Jesus' healing of the deaf and dumb should remind all to listen to others with sincerity and to hear the word of God, not the voice of the world. However, Christians hurt each other, being deaf and dumb in their prejudice and egotism, he lamented.

Ministers should "train themselves in listening to each other" as well as cure their own Church members of prejudice and misunderstanding against other denominations, he concluded.

Anglican Archbishop Francis Park Kyung-jo of Seoul closed the ecumenical liturgy with a blessing. He told UCA News on Jan. 23 that since the ecumenical movement is not so active in Cheongju, it was chosen for this year's special prayer service, following the one in Gwangju last year.

"We hold it in provincial places to spread the spirit of unity among local Christian Churches," he added. The first national-level prayer meeting outside Seoul was in Incheon in 2004, but it returned to Seoul in 2005.

An Anglican laywoman attending the service told UCA News that the liturgy made her "feel good and closer to other denominations."

Park Young-min remarked that the ecumenical service was a bit different from a Presbyterian service, but that he understood the theme of unity. "Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, and it is not God's will for Christian Churches that worship the Trinity to divide into denominations," he told UCA News.

The ecumenical movement in Korea goes back several decades. In 1965 the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church began exchanging visits and holding prayer meetings. Since 1986, the Catholic Church, the National Council of Churches, the Lutheran Church and often the Orthodox Church have jointly conducted annual unity-week prayers.

Theologians from various denominations have gathered for theological discussions and joint production of materials for homilies since 2000.

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