The funeral Mass was held there. The body will be buried in the New York convent cemetery. In Korea, where the deceased served as a missionary for 70 years, a memorial Mass was held at the Jeon, Jin, Sang Center of the International Catholic Brotherhood (AFI) in Hapjeong-dong, Seoul
Sister Jean Maloney was born in New York in 1930 and entered the Maryknoll Sisters in 1950. After her first vows in 1953, she was sent to Korea and continued to care for the poor and marginalized until she returned to her home country in 2023 for health reasons.
Sister Maloney started working as a nurse at the Maryknoll Hospital in Busan, which was crowded with refugees immediately after the armistice of the Korean War. With 20 colleagues, she cared for over 2,000 patients a day. From dawn, she handed out tickets to patients lined up in front of the door, so she was nicknamed the 'Nun at the Door'. She used the same pronunciation, 'Moon (文),' as her Korean surname.
Sister Maloney worked at the Maryknoll Hospital in Jeungpyeong in 1956 and at the Maryknoll Hospital in Ganghwa in 1963. She participated in the Catholic Youth Workers' Association (JOC). In the mid-1970s, she shared joys and sorrows with workers at the Guro Industrial Complex in Garibong-dong, Seoul.
The establishment of the Magdalene Community was triggered by a visit to the Yongsan prostitution hotspot for field training by the Federation of Sisters of Asia and Oceania in October 1984. At the time, Sister Maloney met Lee Ok-jeong (Consecrata), the head of the Magdalene Community, who was counseling prostitutes in a single room near Yongsan Station and learned about their lives. They decided to work together to help these young women.
The two, who also agreed with the approval of the Archdiocese of Seoul, to establish the first and only shelter for prostitutes in Korea, Magdalene House (reorganized as the Magdalene Community in 2005), in Yongsan on July 22 of the following year with support from the Seoul Catholic Social Welfare Association. Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan (1922-2009), the 'servant of God,' also visited here often to offer comfort and support.
For over 20 years, Sister Moon served as the co-representative of the House of Magdalene and as the 'mother' of women forced into prostitution, helping them escape prostitution and rehabilitate. She also participated in the women's labor and unification movements.
In 1997, Sister Jean earned a BS in Psychology/Sociology from Maryland University. That same year, she celebrated her Golden Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister. In 2007, Sister Jean returned to the United States to mentor (as Orientation Director) women who were on their way to becoming the newest Maryknoll Sisters.
Sister Jean returned to Korea in 2009 to write the history of the Maryknoll Sisters in Korea from 1924 to 2012. She also had a Bible class, worked part-time with a group giving Partnership workshops for leadership training, and connected with the Magdalena communities for women, which she co-founded in 1985.
Sister Maloney was one of the few foreigners who experienced the country's rebuilding following the Korean War and lived through rapid industrialization to see a first-world country. Her influence will be felt for many years yet to come.
