Catholics should not visit the “Marian” shrine in Naju, South Korea, and will incur an automatic excommunication if they do so, multiple bishops warned their flocks in recent weeks.
The latest of these warnings came from Archbishop Simon Poh of Kuching, Malaysia. On November 4, he published a statement telling Catholics to only visit approved sites for pilgrimages.
“Catholics are not allowed to join activities or pilgrimages to Naju as this entails an automatic excommunication,” Poh wrote in the Archdiocese of Kuching’s publication Today’s Catholic.
“Archbishop Simon Poh invites all Catholics to become Pilgrims of Hope. For the remaining two months of this Jubilee Year, Catholics are instead encouraged to make pilgrimages and pray at designated churches in Malaysian Arch/Dioceses, as well as recognized Catholic pilgrimage sites,” said the notice.
Similar warning from Singapore
Poh’s comments come days after another archbishop issued warnings about visiting.
During the month of October, the Archdiocese of Singapore issued several warnings about visiting the shrine and following the teachings of its “visionary,” Julia Kim.
“Please note that the latest response from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith states clearly that the clergy, religious, or laity who preside over or attend the celebration of the sacraments or sacramentals, against my (Victor Manuel Cardinal Fernandez) prohibition, incur a latae sententiae excommunication (Can. 1336, 1364),” said an October 3 message signed by Fr. Terence Pereira, the chancellor of the archdiocese.
“The faithful are reminded that these false teachings and associated devotional material should not be promoted or distributed,” said the statement.
About four weeks later, the Archdiocese of Singapore again underscored the prohibition on visiting the shrine.
“Those who continue to visit the center in Naju where the alleged visionary continues her activities against the guidelines of the local Ordinary in Korea, incur an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication,” said an October 31 statement from the chancery of the Archdiocese of Singapore.
“All faithful who have previously visited the centre must stop doing so, and approach a priest for the sacrament of reconciliation for the excommunication to be lifted,” said the statement.
“Those who are planning to visit the centre should desist.”
History of “Our Lady of Naju”
In 1985, a woman named Julia Kim, a convert to Catholicism, claimed that her statue of the Virgin Mary had begun weeping tears and excreting fragrant oil. Kim also claimed to have received a series of messages from the Virgin Mary over decades, and said she had experienced Eucharistic miracles.
The statue became known locally as “Our Lady of Naju,” and has drawn pilgrims, mostly from Asia, ever since. Kim herself has become known as “Mama Julia” by her followers.
Shortly after the reports of the visions began, the Archdiocese of Gwangju, which contains Naju in its territory, began an investigation into the alleged happenings at the site.
In 1998, the then-Archbishop Victorinus Youn Kong-hi of Gwangju flatly rejected Kim’s claims of miracles and said there was no evidence the events were “supernatural and thus from God.”
Visiting Naju and believing in the supposed miracles at the site was “an act of breaking the unity of the faith of the Church,” Youn warned at the time.
Again in 2024, the Archdiocese of Gwangu reiterated that “the Naju phenomenon” was unapproved by the Church and that Catholics were not to visit the location.
Approved Marian apparitions
There are a handful of Marian apparition sites and major shrines that one can visit throughout east Asia.
Japan is home to Our Lady of Akita, a Marian apparition that has been approved by the Diocese of Niigata, Japan. Beginning in 1973, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa, a religious sister in Akita, Japan, experienced numerous visions and other instances of the supernatural.
And in Vietnam, there is Our Lady of La Vang, a minor basilica that was constructed on the site of a reported Marian apparition in 1798.
