Seoul archbishop stands with the families of the disabled worried about the closure of facilities

South Korea is debating the closure of large residential facilities that still house 25,000 patients. Parents fear their children might lose the care and assistance they need. For Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick, all “situations are not all the same”. The most appropriate solutions should be provided for each.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - How to really offer care, assistance, and dignity to people suffering from a severe form of disability is an issue that South Korea has been dealing with for some years now, looking for a new path.

Public opinion has increasingly rejected the large residential facilities built in the 1970s and 1980s to deal with the problem. To this end, the South Korean government has prepared a plan to “deinstitutionalise” approximately 25,000 patients who still live in such places.

However, the families of many disabled are afraid that this route, instead of being a true show of respect for the dignity of the most fragile people, will prove to be an ideological recipe that will not provide adequate alternative paths for the most vulnerable but end up abandoning rather than assisting them in the best possible way.

For this reason, Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul met on Wednesday with a delegation representing 400 families at the Archbishop’s Residence to listen to their concerns regarding this issue and offer them the closeness of the South Korean Catholic Church.

"Our society has gone through many changes,” the prelate told them. “With the passage of time, the limits of the great facilities caring for the disabled have come to light, sparking a debate on the need to protect the human rights of the disabled and arrive at alternative solutions. However, situations are not all the same for everyone. Depending on the type of disability, the approach towards the disabled and their families must be different.”

“What we need is a care system that is open with specific paths for people with the most serious disabilities. An indiscriminate policy of deinstitutionalisation would be absurd. The Church understands and shares your pain,” he said.

Archbishop Chung Soon-taick ended his address with an eloquent embrace for the families of the disabled.

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• south korea
• disabled people
• deinstitutionalisation
• catholic church
• archbishop peter chung soon-taick