A sharp rise in suicides in Korea has sparked a call for religions to take a leading role in preventing people killing themselves by teaching the dignity of life and offering spiritual aid to their faithful.

The Korean Council of Religious Leaders (KCRL) and the Korean Association for Suicide Prevention issued the call at a joint forum called Life Loving to discuss ways of preventing suicides.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare sponsored the forum.

Seven experts representing each religion presented how suicide was viewed by their respective religious teachings and discussed measures to prevent it.

All said suicide was against religious teachings, and needed active prevention measures such as reinforcing existing education and giving spiritual help to those at risk of committing suicide.

The KCRL represents Buddhism, the Catholic Church, Confucianism, Cheondo-gyo, Protestantism, Won Buddhism and the Association of Korean Native Religions.

Cheondo-gyo and Won Buddhism are indigenous Korean religions.

“Every religion cherishes life and teaches the dignity of life. However, religious faithful also commit suicide because they are not able to make the connection between faith and life,” Father Hugo Park Jung-woo, executive secretary of the Committee for Life of Seoul archdiocese, told UCA News on June 24,

“If religious followers consider the basic religious teachings, they will look away from suicide. All religions should take more action and teach the dignity of life and offer spiritual help like counseling services,” he added.

“The role of religions in preventing suicides is crucial since they exert huge influence in our society. If they act together, people’s concerns and awareness on the suicide issue will drastically increase,” said Park Ha-jeong, manager of the health ministry’s Healthcare Policy Bureau.

According to the Korean National Police Agency, there were 14,579 suicides in 2009, up 18.8 percent from 12,270 in 2008.

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