Formation of Foreign Seminarians in Korea

The Church in Korea has now 20 foreign seminarians studying in a number of different seminaries. This was reported in an article in the recent Catholic newspaper. This could be the start of having Korea be the hub for foreign seminarians from Asia and Africa. Some would say that it is too early to say that Korea has that position but it is headed in that direction.

In 1996 they had two Chinese seminarians studying in Korea. From that time there has been a steady increase.

There are 7 Seminaries in Korea. Daejeon has the most with 8 studying in the theology department. Seoul has 2 each from China and Bangladesh and one from Vietnam for five. Incheon has 3 from China and one from Zambia. for a total of 4. Kwangju, Suwon and Daegu have 1 each.

The biggest problem for the Seminary and the students is the language. The difficulties of culture and styles of living are a problem but not as much as the problem of language. Some have even suggested the teaching of the subjects in English. They have many problems to face but it is great to see the interest that the Korean Church has in the formation of seminarians from outside the country. Hopefully they will be helped with the formation of a society of support for these seminarians both from the Korean Church and the Churches of these other foreign countries.

There is an article from Western Confucian which I found interesting.

"a Christianized retelling of the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama" led to "one of the more interesting dates ever to have been on the Catholic calender of saints" — The Feast of Saint Bodhisattva.

The Changes in Vocation Recruitment

Today is Vocation Sunday. We are all called for mission but today we are thinking of those who make this a full time decision. The Korean Church for many years has been blessed with many vocations but a change is coming.


The editorial in the Catholic paper mentioned how today all the seminaries will be open for visitors and all kinds of programs and events to commemorate this day will be operating . This year, however, they mentioned that it is not with a happy heart but with concern for the future. In Seoul at the last meeting of the priests’ senate they spent most of their time taking about the future of vocations. They recalled the times when they looked at the Church in Europe and foresaw that the time would also come to Korea and it seems that it has arrived.

The thought that things would continue indefinitely with an abundance of vocations was an illusion. The big changes that came with the Korean prosperity have brought a change in our thinking. The editorial went on to say there is a drop in interest in religion, the influence of religion on society has diminished, a loss of respect for authority, the openness of sex, the drop in births, all have been signs of this change in our vocation picture.

The time has come to make different efforts to continue the blessings that we have received over the years but now seem to be threatened by the change in our culture.

We as Maryknollers have been faced with this change over some years now. When I was ordained we had so many that we were faced with problems of where to put the seminarians. We had to build seminaries and were very particular in who to accept. This has changed and we pray that things will get better but there is no sign that this will come anytime soon.

This Korean Bishop not too Busy for a Friendly Visit

On April 25th, I was suddenly surprised by a telephone call from Bishop Yoo Heung Sik , the very busy director of the diocese of Daejeon S. Korea. “Hey, I’m coming down to visit you today,” he chuckled. I thought he was joking because I live in Busan several hours away by train, and he is a busy man.

My friendship with the bishop began when I was the pastor of a Busan City Parish. He came as a young seminarian for pastoral training during the summer and winter. Later he was sent to Rome for a doctoral degree in theology-and often wrote to say how things were going-often difficult as he had to tackle four new languages all at once: Italian, Greek, Hebrew and English. But he did just fine- came back to Korea to be head of the Catholic College and Seminary- and 15 years later was chosen the new bishop of Daejeon. Well, some how he got word that I had just returned to Korea after working 16 year in China.

So at 11am he knocked at my door along with 7 former “mutual friends"-bearing gifts of spirit and cakes- “Where shall we go for lunch” he said with a big embrace. Wow!

Justice- Too Late for Sung Hee

Sung Hee was a happy girl getting good marks in high school. In fact her teachers held her up as a model student. But after two years of outstanding study she developed a skin disease that was diagnosed as leprosy. This was 1943 when the Korean government segregated quickly all those with Hansen's Disease(leprosy). Once committed to the isolated island of So Rok Do in Cholla Nam Do , she was forcibly sterilized like all the other men and women there, marriage Yes, children No!

But this is 2009. The Korean Government has finally yielded to the long protests of these people treated so unjustly. On April 20th, the Korean Prime Minister, Han Sung Soo, in a formal session with a Special Commission and in the presence of 150 H.D. people, issued a solemn apology for all past injustices- also with a plan for financial compensation.

However good... too late for Sung Hee. Her right to family life, given to her by God, had been tragically violated. How could any words or money ever compensate?
But she remarked: "It's all hard to forget, but I am a Person of Faith, a Christian,... I must forgive!"

Preparations for the 50th Anniversary of Incheon Diocese

The Incheon Diocese will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of it establishment in 2011. It will
be the same year that Maryknoll will be celebrating the 100th. The organization behind the celebration is being done in a Korean manner, extremely thorough in every way.

The motto will be "New Pentecost 2011"

In remembrance of our 50 years we plan:

[1] Development of the Diocese and the spiritual growth of priests.

[2] Renewal of our Faith and evangelization.

[3] Share loving life

[4] To build a 50th commemorative Church and center for spirituality.

[5] Development of our pilgrimage sites and compilation of our 50 year history.


There will be a Road Map for the 3 years:

[1] 2009 Renewal year

[2] 2010 Year of growth

[3] 2011 Year of thanks

The Prayer for the 50th ( a very free translation)

God the Father who has sent Jesus for the salvation of all human kind,
with unlimited mercy you enabled us to establish this diocese and with
the passing of the years daily to nurture its growth we give you thanks.

As we are prepare for the 50 anniversary we look back over the years
"Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former" (Haggai 2,9)
Allow us to takes these words as a pillar of fire, a promise to serve as springboard for the future.

"Go to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1,8) you have given us a mission,
with the help of the Spirit we will make use of all our strength,
for the new evangelization , the evangelization of those who have left, and the
evangelization of our society. Help us to have visible results .

Let the diocese grow even more and may we be beginning a new spring.
Help us be an instrument in the evangelization of Asia and the whole of the world.
We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen

When the Diocese was established in June,1961 Bishop William J. McNaughton,M.M was the first bishop. The diocese was characterized as a mission area where the Gospel had not yet been proclaimed. As a result, there was a remarkable growth of the Church. At the time of the establishment of the diocese, there were only 9 parishes with a total number of 23,169 Catholics. The priests working in the diocese were all Maryknollers. Today there are 243 priests working in the diocese. There are 111 parishes and 35 mission stations and not one Maryknoller left working in a parish. That is progress and we pray that there will be more of the same in the years to come.







An E-mail from Mexico


One of the priests of the diocese is now in Mexico taking care of the pastoral needs of Koreans residing in Mexico. He sent all of us an e-mail which I will put into English.

"Hello everybody.I am sorry that I am again sending you an e-mail.
Since you are hearing news about Mexico I am unhesitatingly sending you
another e-mail. The news you are hearing is the reality of the situation.
The city I am in is the center of the swine virus epidemic.

The results are: The schools are all closed.
Daily Mass and Sunday Mass all forbidden. Replaced by a
broacasted Mass. This is an order from the Cardinal of Mexico City.
All meetings are forbidden
Masks can't be found, the government has supplied simple masks which are used (you can't buy masks and I am looking around for them)

All events canceled.
All selling along the roads forbidden.
All the taverns and eating places closed.
Business in the markets are recommended to stop.

However, I am in good health. No need to worry. I am also participating in the fast. I give thanks to God's providence for presenting me with this road to maturity. I ask for your prayers and will be with you in my prayers."

Naju Is Still In The News

In the May issue of the Kyunghyang Catholic Magazine there is an article about "the Blessed Mother's Mountain" of Naju. Julia Youn the visionary behind Naju says that she has experienced messages and many supernatural phenomena but the Diocese of Kwangju has made it very clear, after a prolonged study, that there is nothing supernatural on what has taken place in Naju. Below is what the diocese has stated and reported in the The Catholic Bishops' Conference news report.

Archbishop Youn declared, "Various strange phenomena which happened to Mrs. Julia Youn …… produce no evidence which prove that they are truly supernatural [non constat de supernaturalitate] ……."

"The Archdiocese of Kwangju strongly urged the faithful not to follow the members of the group, who try to do damage to the relationships between the Apostolic See and the CBCK, as well as the Archdiocese of Kwangju. The Archdiocese also admonished those who promoted the so-called 'Julia Youn and the related phenomena', to stop disturbing the proper faith of the faithful and agitating their false hope."

This past Christmas there were about 200 people present for a Mass at the Naju center. The article mentions how sad it is that some Catholics feel a need to take their personal opinions and spread them even though the diocese and the bishop have stated that they should desist doing so. The article ends with a quote from 1 Cor. "God is not a God of confusion, but of peace."

A Very Profitable Emmaus Day

Four of us Maryknollers went to Cheongju yesterday for our monthly Emmaus Day. It is a time to be with each other in prayer and fellowship in the presence of Jesus. Chapter 24 of Luke has the incident where unknowingly two disciples were accompanied by Jesus on there way to Emmaus. The origin of the name comes from this incident. .

The day begins with prayer, we then take turns sharing what we have done for the past month and after the meal we spend time talking about an article that was given to us to reflect on before the Emmaus Day.

We usually meet at the Seoul House but yesterday we went to the Peace and Joy Center in Nai Su where one of the Maryknollers is working with the severely mentally handicapped. He has four young men who attend the center each day and there are two teachers who take care of the daily program.The young men spend time with the teachers in different projects that help adapt them to life at home and in society. They eat together and then take a walk. They come together again for another learning session, and around 4:30 they return to their homes.

You have three persons involved with the care and education of these four young men. If one wants to see love in action I can't think of a better object lesson. You are not going to get any thanks for the effort and you are not going to see great results. But you do see the value of each person and his dignity before God, in a very concrete way. I am certain that all those who spend time watching the transaction between teachers and the mentally disabled can't help but be moved.

After spending about an hour at the center we went to the Maryknoller's apartment for the sharing but the time spend at the center, short as it was , for me was the most important part of the Emmaus Day.