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Street protests against the import of U.S. beef which had been organized by the People's Association for Measures Against Mad Cow Disease appear to have been taken over for the time being by religious organizations. Progressive organizations of the Catholic and Protestant churches and Buddhist orders have agreed to organize protest rallies by relay this week, handing the leadership back to the PAMAMCD this weekend.
The denominational organizations took over when the PAMAMCD found itself driven into a corner with numbers of participants dropping sharply and a police crackdown on now almost daily violence. But what motivated priests, pastors and monks to step forward now? And what effect will they have?
Monday¡¯s rally led by the Catholic Priests¡¯ Association for Justice, was the first time the PAMAMCD, itself a coalition of hundreds of famous and lesser-known activist groups, has ceded control after leading candlelight vigils on altogether 53 occasions from May 6 to June 29.
Religious groups will organize candlelight vigils in the Seoul Plaza until Friday. The CPAJ will hold masses until Wednesday, when the Korean National Council of Churches, a Protestant umbrella, will hold a prayer meeting. On Friday, Buddhist organizations including Lotus World will hold a Buddhist ceremony.
However, the organizations, which are of a progressive, politicized bent, have been participating in the PAMAMCD-led candlelight vigils since the start and will hand back the reins on Saturday, the day the secular coalition has pledged will be a "Day of Victory for One Million Protesters."
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Members of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice hold a mass and rally against the government's policy on U.S. beef imports at the Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall on Tuesday. /Newsis
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And they are taking over this week at the request of the PAMAMCD, which has been losing public support and credibility after trying to broaden the protests into all manner of other issues. Only a week or two ago, it felt confident enough to set the government an ultimatum. But since then police have raided rally organizers' offices with warrants and put pressure on them by blocking access to Seoul Plaza to increasingly violent protesters, while it has also become clearer that the hard core of the coalition consists of professional protesters active on any vaguely leftwing cause.
The PAMAMCD urgently needed something to keep the flame alive until this weekend.
In its first such mass held on Monday, the CPAJ urged non-violence, saying, "Candlelights are symbols of peace, weapons of prayer, and flowers of non-violence." And indeed the rally went without a clash with riot police.
The plea stood in stark contrast to the tolerance or tacit encouragement of violence by which the PAMAMCD alienated many people. Citizens and Internet users have praised the priests¡¯ efforts.
The new non-violent climate could bring ordinary people back to the protests some speculate. Already police estimated the number of participants in Monday's Catholic mass and candlelight vigil at about 8,000 -- or 30,000 according to the organizers -- the largest on a single weekday since June 13, when about 15,000 protesters took part in a candlelight vigil and well up from the few hundred hardcore violent protesters seen in recent days.
But it is still too early to be sure that the religious angle will reignite the vigils. According to police estimates, of the 8,000 participants in Monday's protest, 2,000 were Catholic priests, nuns and lay believers. The rest had been mobilized -- 800 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, 800 leftwing activists, 700 members of the New Progressive Party, 600 members of the Democratic Labor Party, and 1,000 college students.
Not seen during the mass, the banners of these groups came out as soon as participants marched through the city center.
There has also been criticism of the priests for taking on board the PAMAMCD's political demands.
During the mass, priests on the platform demanded President Lee Myung-bak conduct full renegotiations on U.S. beef imports, and dismiss Police Commissioner General Eo Cheong-soo. Although they did not formally demand Lee Myung-bak step down, many priests held little pickets with words to that effect. Commenting on the recent violence, the priests blamed police for an excessive crackdown, expressing anger at violence committed and "lies" told by police against the people.
In an article on the PAMAMCD's website bulletin board, one Internet user said, "Religious leaders should stop meddling in political activities and focus on pure services and masses." He alleged the religious activists are being used as a tool to dilute ordinary citizens' antipathy to the PAMAMCD.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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