By My wife saw her do a sign of the cross and she asked me if Yu-Na was Catholic. In late 2008 I researched her for a online fiction story I was writing and didn’t discover anything about Kim’s religious views.
Today I found this-
Source of the images: Pyeonghwa (Peace) Newspaper
Kim Yu-Na (김연아), the World champion of figure skating, was baptized last year and had Stella for her baptismal name (Korean Catholics acquire a Saint’s name when they get baptism). Since then, she has made a sign of cross before her performance as seen in this clip. She is proud to testify her Catholic faith in public.
If you click here, you’ll see her make a sign of the cross before beginning her skating program.
With out knowing it, my online fiction story parallels Kim Yu-Na I wrote after first it after first becoming acquainted with her. It was about another South Korean skater who trained in the United States and lived with her American Uncle and Korean Aunt who were Roman Catholic and eventually adopt their niece.
BTW I have written fiction stories revolving around other sports. Baseball and of course, Golf. Other than Kim, I have no interest in figure skating. How about those Miami Dolphins?
My wife is now a big fan of Kim. That’s Filipinas for you.
12:52 am on March 1st, 2010 1
Bill, I think it is much more than Filipinas that are fans of Kim now. There really isn't anything not to like about her considering skill, talent, and class that won the gold medal.
I had read somewhere before that she was a Catholic but judging from the story she seems pretty devoted.
1:14 am on March 1st, 2010 2
GI,
Leonita was very impressed by Yu-na's skating in Vancouver and became a fan but before the Olympics knew next to nothing.
Now that my wife learned Yu-na is Roman Catholic, she is an even bigger fan.
2:08 am on March 1st, 2010 3
I haven't met a whole lot of Korean Catholics. I know two personally and one of those converted when she married an American Catholic. All the other Korean Christians I know are from Protestant sects.
3:05 am on March 1st, 2010 4
Of all Korean Christians in general, about half are Catholic and half are Protestant. Amongst the diaspora however, the ratio is probably skewed a bit more Protestant. I can't speak for other countries, but from my observations in the US, the Korean Catholic and Korean Protestant communities don't interact much with each other.
3:27 am on March 1st, 2010 5
That would explain a lot. My wife and her friends have met my two Korean Ctaholic friends. They got along well enough but neither side has a burning desire to interact.
6:21 am on March 1st, 2010 6
Back in OC, the KA circles I run in are Protestant or Catholic, with each being centered around a church or a campus youth group. There's very little interaction but zero animosity as well. It's simply a matter, for most people, of not really having so much opportunity to meet the other.
1:12 pm on March 1st, 2010 7
Unfortunately for Catholics, one just can’t start a church without becoming a priest and getting endorsed by the diocese.
Given the low moral quality of some of the people who start storefront churches, I don't think that's such a bad thing. There are too few people running checks and balances on some of the Protestant KA churches.
There’s a Korean saying I’ve heard (don’t know how popular it is) that when Chinese immigrate to the US, the first thing they open is a restaurant. The Japanese, a sushi bar. Koreans? Churches, of course.
That saying should be altered to point out that a lot of Korean immigrants run Japanese restaurants.
1:22 pm on March 1st, 2010 8
"That saying should be altered to point out that a lot of Korean immigrants run Japanese restaurants."
Agreed. Where I live, 99% of all Japanese restaurants are Korean-owned. Nevertheless from a business standpoint, people are more familiar with the term "sushi" over "hwe", so I'll have to give the Korean owners some pluses on marketing.
For the storefront churches, must be nice to be tax-free and all.
1:34 pm on March 1st, 2010 9
"Unfortunately for Catholics, one just can’t start a church without becoming a priest and getting endorsed by the diocese.
Given the low moral quality of some of the people who start storefront churches, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. There are too few people running checks and balances on some of the Protestant KA churches."
Yeah, the Catholic vetting process has worked so well.
1:41 pm on March 1st, 2010 10
It's not the vetting process that's the problem (see here). It's the tendency toward automatic tenure.
7:05 pm on March 1st, 2010 11
Maybe Brian Orser converted her?
7:07 pm on March 1st, 2010 12
I don't think Brian's all that interested in converting girls, if y'know what ah'm sayin'.
8:09 pm on March 1st, 2010 13
I grew up in a Korean-Catholic family and attended Korean-Catholic churches and community activities. I agree with SJ that the Catholic and Protestant communities don’t really interact much, if any. However, from my experience the business-like politics found in Korean-Catholic churches was equivalent to those I’ve seen in Protestant ones, if not worse. For example, if one did not like a particular Protestant pastor, he/she would easily find or start another church. Unfortunately for Catholics, one just can’t start a church without becoming a priest and getting endorsed by the diocese. So most Korean-Catholics I’ve met who’ve become dissatisfied with their Korean parish priests would just go and attend an American Catholic church and do away with the politics.
There’s a Korean saying I’ve heard (don’t know how popular it is) that when Chinese immigrate to the US, the first thing they open is a restaurant. The Japanese, a sushi bar. Koreans? Churches, of course.
2:01 pm on March 2nd, 2010 14
Most Koreans aren't religious, so even if being Protestant or Catholic is an issue to some, it isn't to the majority.
2:56 pm on March 2nd, 2010 15
Yuna is now 19 years old. She and her mother converted when she was 17 years old. Since childhood, Yuna struggled with chronic injuries that made it very painful for her to skate and compete. In addition, they were poor (her father lost his business in the recession and no businesses were willing to sponsor her prior to her later successes) so she could not heal properly. In a hospital, a nurse either prayed or gave a cross to Yuna's mother for Yuna's healing. Shortly thereafter Yuna performed well enough to win a competition. Ever since, Yuna has found inner strength and courage through her new faith.