한말․일제강점기 한국천주교회의 재편 - 뮈텔 주교의 재임기를 중심으로 -

Abstract

When Bishop Mutel was the highest-ranking leader at the end of the Chosun Dynasty and during the Japanese colonial period, the Korean Catholic Church faced the task of adjusting to new situations that emerged from its relationship with the Western world and the reality within Korea. In this process, the Korean Catholic Church empowered its basic organization and selectively accepted new groups to accommodate Korea's situation. With regards to the basic organization, the foremost priority was to reinforce organizations that existed since the persecution in the late Chosun Dynasty. A relationship was established between the diocesan bishop and the vicar general. To comply with universal requirements under the Code of Canon Law, the presbyteral council and the diocesan tribunal were strengthened. This shows that the Korean Catholic Church had moved on from the persecution to the trend of globalization amid international relations. The core of the basic organization was the network of churches distributed across each region. These key bodies were in charge of missionary work, education and social welfare. At the end of the Chosun Dynasty and during the Japanese colonial period, the Korean Catholic Church selectively accepted organizations that were crucial to Korean society. The male order took in a group to take charge of educational projects while the female order invited a congregation of sisters to run an orphanage and assist with missionary work. Unfortunately, the male order failed to achieve its purpose due to the many restrictions imposed by the Japanese rule. On the other hand, the female order had greater success and the active involvement of the congregation in church activities is a phenomenon unseen in European Catholic churches. Seminaries, given the most weight in education, existed for the purpose of nurturing clergy and remained unregistered with the Chosun Government-General. Land was rented out to tenant farmers to ensure stable operation of the schools. Namdaemun Commercial School, the only educational institution managed by the parish instead of the church, was restricted to secondary education level and could not offer higher standards of learning. Towards the end of the Chosun Dynasty and under the Japanese rule, the Korean Catholic Church faced the task of gaining financial independence. It had become increasingly difficult to support operations based on collections from church members, who belonged to the poorest class following the persecution in the late Chosun Dynasty, and overseas donations. To resolve this problem, Korea followed the example of the church in China and rented land to tenant farmers. This was not only a means of acquiring funds but also aimed at the settlement of church members and the spreading of missionary work. During this period, the farmland achieved plentiful results thanks to the generous management over farmers. However, it failed to serve its purpose when the agrarian reform was carried out soon after liberation. The division of missionary regions, which began in 1911 and became active in the 1920s, is closely linked to domestic circumstances as well as international relations. French missionaries and the Benedictine Order of Germany had been serving in Korea since the start of the first world war in 1914. When tension grew between these two groups, the Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan was erected and left to the charge of the Benedictine Order. In the aftermath of World War I, the Paris Foreign Missions Society gradually went down. Based in the fast-growing United States, Maryknoll Missionaries entered Korea in 1923 and led to a new regional division.