SEOUL (UCAN) -- A Church seminar has called for Catholics to regain an appreciation of the spirituality of water to empower their campaign against the government's Pan-Korea Grand Waterway plan.

"We need to rediscover the spirituality of water as life itself and as the agent that connects lives. To recover (water's) value as life is to recover our ecological sensibility and to regain our spirituality," Father Celestine Choi Min-seok said at the seminar.

Without this spiritual aspect, "the Church's opposition to the grand waterway plan is less than persuasive," the Kwangju archdiocesan priest maintained. He argued that the canal plan epitomizes destruction of nature in favor of technological development, whereas people should build society based on a culture of life by rediscovering the importance of water.

The Subcommittee for Environment under the Korean bishops' Committee for Justice and Peace organized the seminar on July 12 at the Catholic Center in Seoul. Bishop Boniface Choi Ki-san of Incheon, committee president, was one of about 150 priests, Religious and laypeople who attended.

Sister Sylvia Han Soon-hui, professor at Catholic University of Korea, explored in her presentation how the Bible portrays God as using water to reward, punish and purify.

The Sacred Heart nun also pointed to eschatological imagery in the prophetic Book of Ezekiel: "Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh" (47:9).

Father Francis Lee Dong-hun, secretary of the environment subcommittee, told UCA News on July 12 that many people have offered economic and ecological reasons for opposing the waterway plan, but the theological perspective has been absent. "By highlighting environmental destruction and the spirituality of water, the seminar aims to convey the Church's view on the matter and to urge people to consider the Church's view," he said.

President Lee Myung-bak proposed the Pan-Korea Grand Waterway during his election campaign as candidate of the Grand National Party (GNP). The plan involves construction of 17 canals linking rivers, which would have to be widened or deepened at points, to create a 3,100-kilometer waterway connecting cities and towns in North and South Korea. The longest segment would link Seoul to the southern port of Busan.

The GNP claims the canals would reduce the distribution cost of goods and support economic development, such as creating employment. The party, which plans to complete the project by 2011, says the canals could also be tourist sites.

Environmental activists, however, argue the canals would not stimulate the economy and would only destroy the natural environment.

At a press conference on June 19, President Lee said he would not implement the waterway plan "if people object to it."

Kang Man-soo, minister of finance and strategy, expressed his personal view to the media on July 3. He said that while about 60 percent of the people favored the plan in the past, it would be good to listen to people's opinion again after expert groups discuss the matter and publicize their views.

Anthony Khim Jee-hyeong, a seminar presenter, pointed out that concrete plans for the waterway project have yet to be unveiled, leading him to ask whether the project is merely political propaganda President Lee is using to "show off."

"The government has continuously changed the focus of the debate over the plan, from economic profit to environmental improvement, security of water resources and tourism," said the professor of civil engineering at Korea University. "To fulfill its role as prophet in society, the Church needs to witness to Gospel values and keep vigilance on the plan," Khim asserted.

Bishop Choi said in his closing address that the Church will intervene in matters at the right time with measures such as issuing a bishops' statement. "I hope the seminar helps the faithful understand not only the importance of water but the danger of a development-centered policy," he added.

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