노인 무관심사와 그리스도교 이웃사랑에 관한 윤리신학적 고찰 = Moral Theological Reflection about Indifference Death of the Elderly and Loving neighbor of Christianity

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Today we can hear news related to indifference death without difficulty. The term indifference death which was unfamiliar to us became very familiar within just a few years. Generally, indifference death means “a person who died alone without any care giver in the residence and is found after a few days without being informed to anyone.” There are several causes of death but one of the biggest reasons is the indifference of society and neighbors. Due to this indifference, elderly people may even lose the meaning of life as experiencing four major pains, that is poverty, disease, loneliness, rolelessness and are driven to death by themselves. For this reason, prior to the simple approach of social welfare aspects to the elderly living alone, christians and churches should prioritize moral theological approaches about why they should have interest in them and form a relationship.

Based on these, this paper develops the contents about indifference death by dividing them into 4 chapters. Chapter 1 develops the contents focusing on the overall understanding of the elderly. Generally, the elderly refer to aged people or older people. However, the term the elderly is a concept difficult to be defined in a word because it includes the multifaceted aspects. Summarizing it, the elderly can be described as people in degeneration period in the physiological and biological aspects, people with changing mental function and personality in the psychological aspect and people with lost status and role in the social aspect.
And then, we investigated the concept and status, characteristics of elders living alone in the modern society. Elders who lives alone mean the elderly in a single-family or in the state not living with anyone among spouses and relatives, non-relatives Elders who lives alone are considered to be a more vulnerable social group compared to the general elderly and the problem of indifference death is expected to be even greater because the number is gradually increasing.
In Chapter 2, we attempted ethical reflection about indifference death of the elderly. First, we were to propose 'indifference death' instead of ‘lonely death’ a term the most commonly used in the society. Because lonely death is not defined as a clear academic term yet and objective explanation is difficult to describe the concept. And all death can be a lonely death in a strict sense because everyone meets their death in a solitary state. Because you should meet your death alone regardless of the presence or absence of anyone. That is why we felt the need for using a term understood in a narrower and specific sense and thought that the term 'indifference death' is appropriate so this paper developed the contents from the standpoint of indifference death. The causes of indifference death of the elderly are divided into seven kinds. Those are industrialization and urbanization, feeling of loneliness and a sense of alienation, crisis of home, change in traditional values, role loss, economic problem, social indifference. Problems caused by them are as follows: First, the elderly cannot meet bless death considered as an important element in human life. Also, indifference death may not only give great guilt and hurt to the bereaved but cause problems in the process of organizing a memento. That is, indifference death has a variety of problems rather than simply ending as death.
When reflected morally, indifference death of the elderly has many problems. The dignity of human life is not protected and nobody takes the responsibility for neighbor’s life and everyone is consistent with indifference. In the society, empathy with others became considerably poor and is revealed in the form of a distorted sympathy and the issue of care as public ethics is not observed. The value of filial piety which the core of the traditional society and widespread throughout Korea has been increasingly disruptive. This can be said to be a direct example showing how many moral problems indifference death has.
Chapter 3 presented the Catholic Church’s teachings about the elderly, the subject of indifference death. The first thing is the positive aspect for the elderly shown in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The elderly in the Bible are the target of respect and blessing and wise men. They are also the target deserved to be honored. And various documents of the Catholic Church and Korea Catholic Church emphasized teaching for the elderly several times. Commonly criticizing the current social conditions rejecting the elderly, these documents emphasize to show a deep interest and love for them. And old age life and the role of the Catholic Church were mentioned. Religion has a more positive impact especially in old age. Old age is a period when they can experience God a little more desperately and trust in God's providence and grace deepens further.
An activation plan to prevent indifference death of the elderly was presented in Chapter 4. Three parts, that is, the role of the elderly themselves, role of society and role of church were specifically presented and an approach was tried the diverse and multi-faceted aspects. First, the role of the elderly themselves is more important than ever. The elderly themselves should establish the conversion of self-consciousness about aging and active ownership. And it is necessary to perform a wide range of elderly education in the society. The target of education will be expanded to all ages because everyone will be old after all. And it is necessary to continue to activate the indifference death prevention program that is currently underway positively and attempt to apply various cases of foreign countries for preventing indifference death to Korea. Finally, churches should play an important role in preventing indifference death. The role of pastors is more important than anything else. Generally, existing awareness of the elderly needs to be changed and time spending with the elderly should be increased. By performing the divine service carefully, pastors should enrich the divine service activity more and encourage the elderly to actively participate in the main divine service. Continuing education for the positive aspects of old age targeting the elderly and all believers is necessary and pastoral counseling for the elderly should be activated. The activation of elder's colleges or solidarity with the community should be especially emphasized.

Therefore, under the name of "Moral Theological Reflection about Indifference Death of the Elderly and Loving neighbor of Christianity", this paper specifically presents the multifaceted analysis of indifference death of the elderly and activation plan for preventing indifference death of the elderly. The primary goal is contribute to finding their place in the church and society by refocusing the meaning and value of the elderly in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church for the elderly against the current social conditions regarding and recognizing the elderly negatively and restoring the dignity of the elderly. Furthermore, in light of Jesus' words “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, “What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me”, we are to reveal the target and scope of neighbors and clearly present how we should treat our neighbors.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 들어가는 말 1
• 1. 문제 제기와 연구의 필요성 1
• 2. 연구 전개 방법 3
• Ⅰ. 노인에 대한 이해 4
• 1.1. 노인의 개념 4
• 1.2. 노인의 특성 5
• 1.2.1. 신체적 특성 5
• 1.2.2. 심리적 특성 6
• 1.2.3. 사회적 특성 10
• 1.3. 현대사회 안에서의 독거노인 11
• 1.3.1. 독거노인의 개념 11
• 1.3.2. 독거노인의 현황 12
• 1.3.3. 독거노인의 특성 13
• Ⅱ. 노인 무관심사에 대한 이해와 윤리적 성찰 15
• 2.1. 무관심사 용어 사용의 문제 15
• 2.2. 무관심사의 개념 16
• 2.3. 노인 무관심사의 원인 18
• 2.3.1. 산업화와 도시화 18
• 2.3.2. 고독감과 소외감 20
• 2.3.3. 가정의 위기 21
• 2.3.4. 가치관의 변화 22
• 2.3.5. 역할 상실 23
• 2.3.6. 경제적 문제 24
• 2.3.7. 사회적 무관심 24
• 2.4. 노인 무관심사의 현황: 우리나라 사례를 중심으로 25
• 2.5. 노인 무관심사로 인해 발생하는 문제점 29
• 2.5.1. 복된 죽음을 맞이하지 못하는 노인 29
• 2.5.2. 유족의 죄책감 30
• 2.5.3. 유품 정리과정에서 발생하는 문제점 31
• 2.6. 노인 무관심사 문제에 대한 윤리적 성찰 32
• 2.6.1. 인간 생명의 존엄성 32
• 2.6.2. 이웃(노인) 생명에 대한 책임 34
• 2.6.3. 공감의 상실 37
• 2.6.4. 공공윤리로서 돌봄의 문제 39
• 2.6.5. 효(孝)의 실천문제 39
• Ⅲ. 노인에 대한 가톨릭 교회의 가르침 42
• 3.1. 성경 안에서의 노인 42
• 3.1.1. 구약성경에서의 가르침 42
• 3.1.1.1. 존경의 대상 42
• 3.1.1.2. 축복의 대상 43
• 3.1.1.3. 지혜로운 인간 43
• 3.1.2. 신약성경에서의 가르침 44
• 3.2. 가톨릭 교회 문헌 안에서의 노인 45
• 3.2.1. 현대 세계의 사목헌장 45
• 3.2.2. 가정 공동체 45
• 3.2.3. 평신도 그리스도인 47
• 3.2.4. 생명의 복음 47
• 3.2.5. 교회와 세상 안에서 노인의 존엄성과 사명 48
• 3.2.6. 교황 요한 바오로 2세의 노인들의 대희년 강론 50
• 3.2.7. 노인들에게 보내는 서한 50
• 3.2.8. 복음의 기쁨 51
• 3.3. 노인에 대한 한국천주교회의 가르침 51
• 3.3.1. 풍요로운 노년의 삶을 위하여 51
• 3.3.2. 한국 천주교 사목 지침서 52
• 3.3.3. 안동교구 교구장 담화에서 드러난 사목지침 52
• 3.4. 노년기 삶과 가톨릭 교회의 역할 57
• 3.4.1. 노인과 종교생활 58
• 3.4.2. 교회의 사명 59
• 3.4.3. 연령 통합적 사고로의 전환 60
• IV. 노인 무관심사 방지를 위한 활성화 방안 62
• 4.1. 노인 스스로의 역할 62
• 4.1.1. 노화에 대한 자의식의 전환 62
• 4.1.2. 능동적인 주체의식의 확립 63
• 4.2. 사회의 역할 65
• 4.2.1. 노인 교육 실시 65
• 4.2.2. 무관심사 예방 사업의 활성화 67
• 4.2.3. 무관심사 방지를 위한 해외의 사례 73
• 4.2.3.1. 일본 73
• 4.2.3.2. 프랑스 74
• 4.2.3.3. 스웨덴 75
• 4.2.3.4. 영국 75
• 4.2.3.5. 핀란드 76
• 4.3. 교회의 역할 77
• 4.3.1. 그리스도교 이웃사랑의 정의 78
• 4.3.1.1. 사목자의 노인에 대한 인식 개선 79
• 4.3.1.2. 노인에 대한 사목상담의 활성화 81
• 4.3.1.3. 사목자의 정성스러운 전례거행 및 노인의 적극적인 전례참여 82
• 4.3.1.4. 노인대학의 활성화 84
• 4.3.1.5. 노인을 위한 신앙교육의 실시 86
• 4.3.1.6. 전 신자를 대상으로 노인을 대하는 자세 교육 87
• 4.3.1.7. 본당과 지역사회와의 연대 87
• 4.3.1.8. 노인 자원봉사활동의 활성화 90
• 나가는 말 92
• 참고문헌 95