This research seeks to revitalize the social welfare work activities with the Daegu Diocese of Korean Catholic Church. To this end, we surveyed its members' social welfare work awareness and achievement status. We further analyzed the relationship bet...
This research seeks to revitalize the social welfare work activities with the Daegu Diocese of Korean Catholic Church. To this end, we surveyed its members' social welfare work awareness and achievement status. We further analyzed the relationship between their faith life and their social welfare awareness and activities. Thus we found out what effect the members' faith life has on their social welfare awareness and activities.
Our voluntary sampling polled 589 effective subjects, out of the targeted 600 members, from eleven churches, under the Diocese.
The finding revealed that members of the Daegu Diocese lacked in basic awareness for social welfare and in understanding the values that are offered in social welfare science and the social teachings of the Korean Catholic Church. Interestingly, the Diocese's members identified social welfare with charities, and regarded it just as a ceremonial act. The finding showed, they accepted social welfare as their duty, and this positive attitude was influenced by the Church's teaching on 'Practice Love.' Members of the Daegu Diocese also were found to passively participate in volunteer services and other social welfare work.
We surveyed what effect the members' faith life had on their social welfare awareness and activities. Their faith life, measured by the baptism period, home faith life and other external factors, had minimal impact on their social welfare awareness and activities. However, their Mass participation, sacrament of penance and other internalized factors of faith life, significantly influenced their social welfare awareness and activities. Although the believers, through their faith life, enhanced their awareness for social welfare, this awareness was not translated into action.
Members of Korean Catholic Church at the Daegu Diocese attributed much of their actions stated above to their individual responsibility, but they also attributed it to the churches' lack of social welfare education and of approaches for social welfare work activities. Therefore, to insure the members of the Korean Catholic Church at the Daegu Diocese have an affirmative awareness for social welfare per the teachings of the Bible and teachings of the church, and to insure their participation in specific welfare functions and operations, we must provide social welfare education that is focused on it's value to the members faith life. In addition the Daegu Diocese must also establish it's own Volunteer Service Center.
We trust that the results of this research will be of great assistance to the Daegu Diocese of Korean Catholic Church for improving its social welfare work, and will serve as a basis for social welfare education which targets it's church members.