I've been meaning to share a little about this since the case closed last month. Father Joachim Kang has finally ended his embezzlement scandal saga with a guilty sentence of 7 1/2 years imprisonment. He has vowed to return the 5 million back to the church, which comes very handy during this year of major renovations amounting up to $700,000. This figure appears rather minute in comparison to the millions.
I've personally known Father Kang and had 1 to 1 talks with him over numerous topics; either counseling, issues regarding youth activities and fund raising events. Not that I really adored him, but I never expected him to circum to greed...one of the 7 deadly sins. He came across as a righteous and stern person; no nonsense kind of a guy. It may have been his knowledgeable background in law or the way he slangs with his bizarre English accent. It was the week of my birthday in 2003 that James broke the news about the embezzlement and we were glued to the TV screen. Somehow back then, I believed he could be innocent.
Sometime this year, he brought with him, the fall of the Catholic Church. Suddenly in the limelight there was so much bad publicity about the church. Video clips of my parish on prime time news, talk shows about religious and them beginning just human, newspaper forums... My church did very little to address this issue. Parishioners spoke among themselves but never formerly. Everyone had their story or two, some good, some bad. At the end of the day, maybe all we needed was to pray for our priests. They are after all, human. This episode had probably affected the church as a whole. And to those who know Father Kang, maybe some disappointment. It becomes important that the ultimate focus should be on God alone. Not a fantastic preacher, great P&W music, air-conditioned building… but just God. Cause everything; everyone will fall, but not God.
Father Kang has certainly been part of my faith building. There’s no real way to ignore the mistakes one makes, but I’d certainly like to look upon what good he had done; especially for me.
I've personally known Father Kang and had 1 to 1 talks with him over numerous topics; either counseling, issues regarding youth activities and fund raising events. Not that I really adored him, but I never expected him to circum to greed...one of the 7 deadly sins. He came across as a righteous and stern person; no nonsense kind of a guy. It may have been his knowledgeable background in law or the way he slangs with his bizarre English accent. It was the week of my birthday in 2003 that James broke the news about the embezzlement and we were glued to the TV screen. Somehow back then, I believed he could be innocent.
Sometime this year, he brought with him, the fall of the Catholic Church. Suddenly in the limelight there was so much bad publicity about the church. Video clips of my parish on prime time news, talk shows about religious and them beginning just human, newspaper forums... My church did very little to address this issue. Parishioners spoke among themselves but never formerly. Everyone had their story or two, some good, some bad. At the end of the day, maybe all we needed was to pray for our priests. They are after all, human. This episode had probably affected the church as a whole. And to those who know Father Kang, maybe some disappointment. It becomes important that the ultimate focus should be on God alone. Not a fantastic preacher, great P&W music, air-conditioned building… but just God. Cause everything; everyone will fall, but not God.
Father Kang has certainly been part of my faith building. There’s no real way to ignore the mistakes one makes, but I’d certainly like to look upon what good he had done; especially for me.
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