Communion and Communication

There are 7 Catholic seminaries in Korea today which have helped to increase the number of vocations but it has also divided the priests into different groups. When the only seminary was in Seoul, all the priests knew each other, and then the Kwangju seminary was built, dividing the priests into two groups. Today we have 7 different places of formation, and for a country that is so homogeneous and organized this is hard for some to accept.


The religious probably have more difficulty with this since they are more accustomed to community. It is not as easy to fraternize with their fellow religious since they are formed in different seminaries.


One religious mentioned that we need "commonio and communicatio", communion and communication if we are going to see renewal in the Church-a sign of health. He would recommend that all the priests in the country after finishing their studies go to the same seminary for a period of "communion and communication". He knows this idea has been around for a long time and does have many who are in favor of the proposal, but he realizes that there are too many obstacles to overcome and in the long run not feasible.


Cardinal Avery Dulles introduced the 5 models of Church in which one was community, (mystical body). These images were not independent of each other but made for an integral approach to what the Church was. All part of our image of Church. A Church where we are all joined together in the body of Christ.


Without our consciousness of communion it would be difficult to communicate on a deeper level . In the Church today there are divisions and misunderstandings; there are problems in parishes , dioceses and communities and most of it comes because of a failure to communicate from the heart, conscious of our oneness in Christ.


The dream of having all the priests go to one seminary for a year of communion and communication is a dream and it will remain so but the desire to see more communion and communicatio in the Church is a very realistic proposal and one that we should all entertain.