The Korean Foreign Mission Society was established 50 years ago. On February 26, its founding date, a Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral in Seoul.
The Korean Foreign Mission Society was founded in 1975 when the Korean Church faced difficult circumstances, despite many concerns about the lack of priests and financial resources. It was the first step for the Korean Church, which had grown with the help and support of foreign missionaries, the first of which came from the Paris Foreign Mission Society. The Church has continued to grow since the gospel was first preached in Korea to become a 'sharing church.'
The Korean Foreign Mission Society has inherited the passion for evangelization, dedicated sharing, and the service spirit of foreign missionaries. The mission society dispatched its first overseas missionary to Papua New Guinea in 1981 and has 87 missionaries in 9 countries spreading the gospel.
The seeds of overseas missions sown by the Korean Foreign Mission Society over the past 50 years are considered to have dispelled the concerns of the early days of its establishment and changed the makeup of the Korean Church. Now, Korean missionaries are no longer an unfamiliar word. They also significantly contributed to the Korean Church expanding its perspective to mission fields in difficult situations overseas, breaking out from their own 'fences.' In addition, they achieved excellent results in discovering missionary priests. The lay missionaries made us realize that the missionary mission is given to all church members.
On the day of the Mass, bishops, priests, brothers, and nuns from each diocese, religious orders, missionary societies, and many laypeople filled Myeongdong Cathedral. The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers were represented by Fr. Richard Agustin and Fr. Gerard E Hammond.
The Korean Foreign Mission Society chose 'Go Out' as its 50th-anniversary motto. It aligns with the mission society's spirit that aims for global evangelization. Together with all believers of the Korean Church, we hope that the Korean Foreign Mission Society will reaffirm the missionary mission of the Church as its motto suggests and become a community that joyfully spreads the gospel to the whole world.
Archbishop Jeong, the celebrant at the Mass, expressed his gratitude and congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the foundation. He said: "The priests of the Korean Foreign Mission Society met Jesus Christ at some point in their lives, experienced the joy of the gospel that He gave them, and became missionaries who devoted themselves to a life of missionary work to spread the joy of the gospel wherever the Lord wants them to go." He asked for prayers and support for the missionaries faithfully carrying out their missionary work worldwide.
Cardinal Yeom Soo-Jung remembered that when the missionary society was founded, Bishop Choi Jae-seon remembered the missionaries who worked in the Church and were martyred and emphasized the mission of the universal Church to spread the gospel. He said: "The essence of our Church is to receive God's love, spread that love, and bear witness to it. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary today, our mission is to dedicate our youth to the joy of spreading the gospel with all our strength, sincerity, and passion and to live bearing witness."
The first missionary was dispatched to Papua New Guinea in November 1981, and missionaries have since been sent to Mexico, Mozambique, the United States, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines. On June 10, 2011, Cardinal Jeong Jin-seok, Archbishop of Seoul, proclaimed a decree recognizing the Korean Foreign Mission Society as an apostolic life group established by the Archdiocese of Seoul. On December 5, 2015, the Vatican confirmed its canonical status. 77 members, 6 associate priests, and 2 lay missionaries are continuing missionary activities in 13 dioceses in 9 countries, and 11 seminarians are in missionary training.
The Korean Foreign Mission Society is considered to have played a key role in helping the church grow from a "receiving church to a sharing church." For its 50th anniversary this year, the Society has set the slogan "Go Out" and announced that it will make more efforts to train missionaries.
"The Korean Foreign Mission Society began with a spirit of gratitude and has continued its overseas missionary activities for the past 50 years with the support and interest of the Korean Church. The 50-year history looks back on the establishment of the Korean Foreign Mission Society, an important turning point in the history of the Korean Church and its missionary activities today."
