In 1970, as I worked in a rural parish in Kwangju Diocese, most of the families farmed for a living. The Catholic families, like all other families in the area, were guided, bonded and bound together by the Confucian system that defined the relationship of respect and duty within the family according to age, status and gender.

The Retrouvaille Program for troubled marriages and other programs are helping couples to keep communication, intimacy and spirituality alive and to grow in their marriage and family life.

The Confucian system has specific names for the place of each person in the immediate family and the extended family and in-laws and the wife’s family. For example, in English aunt is the same word for our father’s and mother’s sisters or sisters-inlaw.

In Korean, there are two words which distinguish the sister as that of the mother or the father. One is e-mo, and the other is ko-mo. Duty, filial piety and order are the strongest values in the Confucian system. Like all systems it has pluses and minuses.

Like most systems in reality it favors the strong and those with status. The older men and heads of families call the shots and emphasize the rules that favor them. No one suffered more under that system than the myonurii, the daughter-in-law, especially the wife of the eldest son, who had to prepare all the meals and food for the extended family several times a year as they celebrated the family’s traditional ritual ceremony for their ancestors.

Nobody could be more powerful, demanding and sometimes cruel than the mother-in-law. And no “dutiful son” could ever challenge his mother or take the side of his wife in a family issue or quarrel. In the past, sons more often received higher education, and the women did most of the backbreaking work of planting, weeding and cooking on the farms.

So, what has changed in Korea? With the industrialization of the nation, more opportunity for jobs, education, freedom of speech, freedom of movement and familial relationships have all changed. The old societal rules have changed as well.

The beginnings of democracy came to Korea in 1987 after many years of struggle, and many new laws and attitudes came with it. What effect did all these changes have on the family and on our role as Church and as missionaries to respond to the changes?

Until the mid-1960s, 85% of Koreans lived in rural towns and areas. Now, the opposite is true with approximately 85% of the population living in cities.

Education and financial independence must be two of the biggest influences and change agents in any society. For Christians, freedom of religion and the basic truths of human dignity—being created in the image of God, God’s love and mercy and the promise of afterlife for all—are agents of change and a vision of hope. The new urban and industrial Korea provided an opportunity to sample these truths and more in many new churches.

Many people were only too willing to escape the shackles of the past as they experienced it. Of course quick change, especially without evaluation, doesn’t always produce good, sustainable change.

The immediate rewards for people were more employment opportunities resulting in more income for the family. The families were then able to enjoy better living conditions. Sons and daughters were able to go to universities and get better educations while the better educated young people, even those from poor families, were able to go abroad to study.

Because of the rising population, the government established a policy of two children per family and then later one child per family. As a result, some families become isolated at home, deprived of aunts, uncles and cousins, and the extended Confucian family structures began to break down. Education became the top priority for most families which means children going to school at 7:30 a.m. and taking extra classes at night with some in classes until 1:00 a.m.

In other homes, live-in university students provide tutoring at all hours. Mothers stay awake in order to keep their children awake to study more.

Husbands working in big companies work late and socialize with their colleagues until late at night. Thus, wives spend more time with the children and their friends than with their husbands. The end result may be better educated children but little family life.

They hardly ever eat meals together; there is very little bonding between father and children. Often the wife/mother is more emotionally involved with the children and her women friends than with her husband. Since the 1990s, with the increased competition to get into top class universities, families with financial freedom began to send their children abroad to English speaking countries as early as primary school to study and get into colleges abroad.

This led to the syndrome known as “the wild geese” families in which the mother goes abroad most of the year to care for the children, and the father has to fend for himself at home, like a wild goose. During holidays the children and mother may or may not come home.

Unfortunately, this creates a greater distance between father and family. It also exposes the children and mother to a Western way of life with different values and relationships. Having tasted the life of a new culture, many women don’t want to return home. If they do return, the women want a new way of life, one with the freedom they experienced abroad either as students or wives/mothers.

The change creates great worry for the “at-home” father and conflict between himself and the returned family. Conflict can lead to violence, and loneliness can lead to unfaithfulness. Money, education and status can lead to individualism, and many young women are not willing to or able to endure the old patriarchal family system any longer. Divorce is no longer a dirty word.

With young women leaving the farms and countryside for the cities, one of the basic needs of rural areas was exposed—the need for women to become wives, to bear children and carry on the family line. To cope with this problem both government and private agencies set up matchmaking systems to connect Korean men with foreign brides from the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mongolia and other countries.

While the arranged marriages meet one need, they create many others. Now, in some rural areas, more than 50% of the wives are from foreign countries, living in areas and raising families where only Korean and Confucian culture existed for 3,000 years. This causes much stress, conflict and problems that call for solutions, new structures and ideology that did not exist thirty years ago.

The declining population in Korea due to the one-child family created another situation as well—the need for foreign workers to fill spots once held by Koreans. These workers have been arriving from as far away as South America and Africa as well as nearby Asian countries. The economic opportunity is a great boost to both Korea and the foreign workers.

However, family separations, cultural misunderstanding, loneliness and injuries plague the foreign workers and often lead to the break up of the family in the worker’s home country. With the huge growth in the Korean economy, many foreign companies have come to Korea.

Often, families from the country of origin of the foreign company come to Korea, which is a big change. While these changes have created a few problems, they also have exposed Korea to new family values with more of an international flavor and Christian values of human rights and dignity that have resulted in fairer and more just laws, policies and attitudes throughout the country. How did the Church respond?

Maryknoll’s Fr. Donald MacClinnis introduced Marriage Encounter to Korea more than thirty years ago. As of 2009, 80,000 couples have participated in the programs, not to mention all the other enrichment and weekly meetings in parishes. In turn, the Korean couples have shared the fruits of their experience with the Korean Diaspora across the world.

Korean couples have been running weekend programs for engaged couples and Marriage Retorno programs to give a more Bible-based spirituality to the couples. I introduced the Retrouvaille Program for troubled marriages in 2005. These and other programs are helping couples to keep communication, intimacy and spirituality alive and to grow in their marriage and family life.

Many religious orders and lay people serving as both professionals and as volunteers are sharing their resources and time to help families who are experiencing problems, especially the migrant workers and interracial couples.

Various national groups have set up their own websites to educate and support each other and keep in touch with their own culture and families at home. The new challenges and problems are a call to care and share, support and learn how to build a better and more caring Korean society for the future. What that will look like no one really knows. One thing is certain, the Korean family of 2010 is far different from the family of 1969.

Fr. Sean Conneely lives and works in Korea.

While many of us have had an “Is it over?” experience, an experience or change that causes us to see one aspect of our life as ending, sometimes we realize it is a chance to see the life giving experience of God’s gift even if we ask ourselves “Is it over?” Some people may ask that question when they leave single life to get married. Others may ask it when they finish their college degrees and move on into the working world. However, another way to look at it is to realize that the moment can be called a resurrection experience in our daily journey. Many of our Columban students have had this type of resurrection experience since they entered the formation program.

It makes me wonder when I hear someone say that their personal life is over when they enter the seminary. Does that make sense? I think that when we respond to God’s call it is the beginning of a new life as a gift from God, and it does not mean that one’s personal life has ended.

Let me give you an example from my own experience. After joining the Columban formation program in 1992, I used to visit my mother on Sunday from time to time. One Sunday I visited Mom, and we had lunch together. In the late afternoon my mom asked me, “Why do you keep watching the clock?” I said without thinking, “It is time to go back home.” My mother stared at me for a while and asked, “Did you say, ‘your home’? ” but she didn’t say any more about it.

Ten years later, I was preparing for my priestly ordination, and I visited my mother. She suddenly asked, “Do you remember the conversation we had about where your home is?” She carefully told me that at that moment she felt really sad and felt that our relationship – that of a mother and son – had abruptly ceased because of my remark.

She felt that I had somehow separated myself from her when I said, “It is time to go back home.” She told me with a big smile, “I realize I have not lost my son,” even though as a missionary priest I have a big Columban family now in addition to my birth family.

Entering the seminary as a response to God’s call does not mean leaving the relationships that children have with their parents, nor does it mean the end of one’s personal life; it is rather a beginning of a new life in a larger Columban family. That is why we call the formation house “our second home” because this place is not just for studying or boarding; the formation house is not only a residence. The formation house is our home as we begin a new chapter in our lives.

Currently, we have nine students in our formation program, all members of the larger Columban family. Some are living in Korea while others are overseas. Four students are in South Korea: Gregorio Youngin Kim, who is preparing his deaconate ordination at present is in Seoul. Peter Daecheol is in his third year at the major seminary in Seoul.

Paul Changyoon Yee and Peter Syehyun Kwan are both in their first year at the major seminary. Five students are abroad. Lucano Hwa Ku finished the First Mission Assignment (FMA) and is preparing to go back to Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. Augustine Jeehoon Yee and Carlo Yuigyun Jung are in the process of completing their last two semesters at Catholic Theological Union. They will do their FMA in Fiji next year.

Andrea Sunjong Ryu and Antonio Jinwook Seok are studying their first semester of theology at the Jesuit seminary, Ateneo, in Manila, the Philippines.

For these nine Korean Columban students, we ask your prayers so that they may be strengthened and nurtured in their vocations. Please tell other people around you about the vocation to the missionary priesthood so that young people can muster up the courage to respond to God’s call, to embrace new beginnings and new life.

Fr. Pat Cunningham, Vice Rector of the formation program in the Korean Region, provides the following update about ordinations, students and changes at the formation house: This past year has been a very eventful year with many comings and goings at the formation house, and of course an ordination celebration which was the highlight of our program and the Korean Region.

We witnessed the end of in the formation house chapel Fr. Ray Scanlon’s many years of dedicated service as Rector of the formation program in Korea. In extending our gratitude and saying our farewells to Fr. Ray, we had the great pleasure of welcoming his successor to the program, our new Rector Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam!

The changing of the guard happened against the very happy backdrop of a wonderful ordination celebration where, in January 2010, Fr. John Taemoon Kwon became be ordained. It was a wonderful moment for him, his family and friends and local parishioners who literally pulled out all the stops in making it a day to remember for all who were present. It was also a day to celebrate for all those who journeyed with Fr. John during his initial formation, formators and fellow students alike, who helped nurture and strengthen his missionary vocation over the ten years or so in Columban formation.

He took up his assignment to Taiwan in September 2010 after a period of ministry in a local parish. Our thoughts and prayers went with him as he began his new assignment.

Ordinations are wonderful celebrations and a great sign of hope for our Society. They represent the culmination of many years of struggle, self questioning and moments of joy along the way when one feels a certain confirmation in one’s response to God’s call to become a missionary.

We are happy to report that we had another ordination in the region quick on the heels of Fr. John Taemoon Kwon. Gregorio Youngin Kim’s deaconate ordination was on September 18, 2010, and his ordination to the priesthood will take place in March 2011! I guess the reason why I’m getting carried away with all the ordination talk is that there has been a hiatus of eight years since our last priestly ordination.

Ordinations are a great opportunity to showcase our vocation and formation programs and to stoke up interest in Columban mission and are incredibly energizing for all the Columban family in the region! We need new students to keep the vision of our founders (who themselves were constantly motivated and energized by God’s call to spread the good news in lands far from home) and patron St. Columban alive for the next generation. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, we were only too delighted to welcome two new students, Peter Syehyun Kwan and Paul Changyoon Yee, to the program. We also welcomed the return of another student, Peter Gikwang Kyu, who had been in the program previously and is now in his fourth year in Columban formation. Following an initial period of time of getting to know one another and gradually finding our feet as a new community, everyone soon settled into the daily routine of classes, the various activities of the program and life together in the formation house.

We are also happy to announce that we have another student, although he is of the four legged canine variety and doesn’t always abide by the guidelines set out in the program. His name is Paremi, or “hope” in English. Some people have noticed that the vice rector has lost a few pounds recently, and I can put that down to Paremi as he has been putting me through my paces around the the streets near the formation house. I’m not sure who has been walking whom, by the way! Paremi, a guide dog puppy and quite a big one at 52.8 pounds, is temporarily on loan with us from the Samsung guide dog school. He will return to the guide dog school following graduation from the program at the end of the year where he will undergo postgraduate formal training. Paremi has turned out to be a big hit with our neighbors and is settling into Columban formation with aplomb.

We are fearful he may have trouble passing his exams though, as he appears to be too lackadaisical and has a tendency to break the rules! As you can see our formation program is not only engaged in forming missionaries, but guide dogs as well, so it demands a lot of versatility on all our parts. We are all on the journey together, and someday we will reach our destination!

Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam (L) is the Rector of the Columban Formation program, and Fr. Patrick Cunningham (R) is the Vice-Rector of the Columban formation program in Seoul, South Korea.

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Columban Mission.

Fr. Michael Gormly

Fr. Michael Gormly is presently at St. Columban’s, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

Liberation after 36 years of occupation by Japan meant a “cold war” division of the peninsula in 1945. North of the 38th parallel came under the infl uence of Kim Il Sung and Russian communism. South of the parallel went to Rhee Syngman and United States infl uence. Each side soon had its own government, its own capital and its own army.

Both sides claimed legitimate authority over the whole peninsula. A bitter war broke out in June 1950 with huge troop losses on both sides. Worse, many civilians were killed by bullets, bombs, disease and starvation. In the end, the two forces faced each other in more or less the same positions. The wrenching effect of this unresolved crisis left a tragic imprint on the nation and remains the backdrop to national life.

Catholicism in Korea

Many Christians took a prophetic stance in the face of a series of dictators. Their voice was signifi cant at a time when people feared to speak for themselves. They may have been denounced and even imprisoned, but ultimately they made a difference.

The vitality of the parishes is the first thing that impacts on a visitor. The post-war role of missionaries played a large part in Church affairs of the time. Giving and serving was the initial task. Then, as local leadership emerged, both sides were giving and receiving. Mission
became mutually enriching for all.

Thirty years later, the Church is a vibrant and expanding force in Korean society. The stance of the Church in tough times has borne fruit. Non-Christians see the role of the Church in promoting Gospel values. People appreciate the teachings and accept its role for their society.

Church leadership placed a great emphasis on promoting shared pastoral activity, especially with issues of social conscience and peaceful reconciliation. A dynamic style of lay leadership emerged. Moreover, vocations to the priesthood and religious life were abundant.

Today the missionary role of the Korean Church deserves recognition. Korean missionaries work in many countries. They cover the world from the place of sunrise to the place of sunset. The Korean Mission Society has commitments in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, China, Russia, Cambodia and Mozambique. In migration too, Korean Catholics are keen to play a part in the local Church scene. They certainly bring passion, energy and readiness to their Church life. The manner of their presence has already become both a challenge and resource for Catholicism in Australia and New Zealand.

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Columban Mission.

Fr. Donal O’Keefe

Fr. Donal O’Keefe is the director of the Korean Region.

People who had known Columbans in some parish – there were many such persons since Columbans built 129 parishes and worked in so many others – people who had met Columbans in hospitals, at retreats, workshops, seminars; the people ministered to by the Columban Sisters.

And then there are the friends, relatives and family members of our Korean Columban missionaries today. It gave me a new appreciation of the impact of Columban mission on the lives of so many in Korea.

Today a major part of the work is our participation in the cross-cultural missionary outreach of the Korean Church. Korean Columban priest missionaries, lay missionaries, associate priest missionaries and Sister missionaries now work in many countries. This gradual but radical change
from a missionary receiving country to a missionary sending group in Korea has given us a new level of insertion and involvement into the local Church.

The relatives and friends of Korean Columbans are now key people in the Columban family. The Columbans are the only society in the Korean Catholic Church that sends lay missionaries. This new generation of Columban missionaries has introduced us to dioceses in Korea where we had never worked. Our mission education program for personnel going overseas is now in its twelfth year, and some 400 people have taken the course.

Besides the formation and education of missionaries, we are also involved in mission on the ground in Korea, although recent years have seen a reduction in the numbers working in the Region. Columbans are involved in a variety of apostolates including working with persons with special needs, hospital ministry, marriage ministry, retreat works, counseling, spiritual direction, dialogue with religions and researching issues for mission today. The rapid growth in numbers of local Church personnel has given us a new freedom to do these works which the Society has prioritized.

It is foreseeable that in the future our numbers will be smaller. However, the changes which we have undergone during the last twenty years show that we have the capacity to evolve, to take on new missionary challenges.

Over the years people have told us that the presence of the Columbans was a blessing to the Korean Church, but today in particular the Korean Church is blessing the Columbans.

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Columban Mission.

After many years in Korea, Fr. Malachy Smyth is now living in Ireland. Fr. McGlinchey continues his work on Jeju Island.

Ordained in 1951, he is amazed and bemused when he remembers how things were when he first arrived on the isolated island more than fifty years ago. The way people were living and the whole economy could easily be compared to the 18th century. The residents of the island were extremely poor, and the farmers were working the fields with wooden plows and oxen. The farming methods were very primitive, and the island itself was mired in poverty. It was a great challenge to try to introduce new farming methods as a means to help the islanders improve their lives economically.

Fr. McGlinchey and parishioners

In short, it was a challenge to apply the commandment “to love your neighbor as yourself,” in a modern way. Instead of concentrating on the traditional charitable works like feeding the hungry through the Catholic Relief Services, as missionaries did during the Korean War times and afterwards by way of free food and clothing, Fr. McGlinchey tried to zero in and encourage the people to make use of their unused resources, like the vast areas of unused land available, in addition to improvement of their methodology in farming and livestock raising.

Fr. McGlinchey didn’t learn these methods in the seminary; the Columbans didn’t offer courses on animal husbandry! At the time, the traditional approach was to go in and set up parishes in mission lands, and they were very badly needed at the time. We were instructed to buy land and set up churches, houses and convents and to run programs of catechesis for the waves of catechumens coming out and for those wishing to be baptized. When Fr. McGlinchey arrived, there were only two parishes on the entire island and his was to be the third.

Jeju Island

Unfortunately, there were only a few Catholics, about 25 in all, but there were about 25,000 very poor farmers in the place. Something had to be done for the farmers since preaching would not feed them. It was obvious that talking to these people in their poverty about Christ was not enough. While Fr. McGlinchey went about building outstations and hiring Sunday school teachers, it was clear that there was a lot more needed than that.

Up to that time, it wasn’t expected that we missionary priests would get involved in technical skills and technical knowledge, so it wasn’t taught in the seminary then. But Fr. McGlinchey was lucky; his father was a veterinarian, and he had learned a lot from him. As a boy and young man, Fr. McGlinchey heard his father giving advice to farmers. Of course a lot of it was common sense, but he recognized the importance of bringing in experts from the outside to help with the work.

The farmers were poor and very decent people and they used to give him barley, as there was no rice on Jeju at the time. Barley was the standard meal, and the farmers gave him chickens and eggs as well even though it was stuff they needed for themselves. Really, it was a measure of their kindness and generosity to give from what they needed rather than from a surplus.

Countless changes have taken place on the island since Fr. McGlinchey first arrived, although the local customs and traditions have mainly survived the rush to modernize. There is a network of new roads like a spiderweb all around the island with the tourist industry very much emphasized.

Catholic Church on Jeju Island

Despite the modernization, there are a lot of old people left on their own and that is why we started the old folks home and nursing home on the island. At the present time, there are 75 people in residence in the facility, and there are long waiting lists. In addition, there is a hospice that can accommodate 29 people which we run without government involvement or funding. The service care we offer in the different facilities attracts a lot of interest in the Church and as a result quite a number of the family members go on to show an interest in becoming Christians.

They start coming out to the Church following their experience of a friend or family member being cared for at the hospice. Reflecting on the historic missionary approach, Fr. McGlinchey stated that, “You know, the longer I’m here the more I believe our missionary approach was wrong. We were all about catechetics and teaching catechumens, when it should have been about evangelization.

This has shown up in these times of modern living when lots of people have fallen away from the Church: it really shows they were never fully evangelized by the missionaries. They were taught doctrine and baptized and confirmed all right but that was the end of it. As Korea modernizes this is showing up as a basic flaw in what was the missionary policy. In later years, it is true, correct emphasis has been put on evangelization, and even with the decline in missionary numbers great efforts have been put into this approach. Here we have tried to reach out to all the people: the poor, the old, the sick, the homeless, the unemployed.

The people see that reaching out as physical proof that we are trying to live the values of the Gospel that Jesus asks us to bear witness to. Down the centuries if it was all about theology and doctrine and catechetics without the practical witness, the remnant wouldn’t have survived at all. Jesus Himself gave us the lead in all of this reaching out to all kinds of people, He wasn’t parochial, and He wasn’t limited to narrow confines. Our projects here—the retreat house, the youth center, the hospice and hospital facilities—all try to reflect and mirror that same concern for the whole person. That’s what I like to call evangelization.”

Fr. McGlinchey visits the sick

There have been many young people from Ireland who have come to help with the different works on the island, and they are just wonderful. Sometimes there is criticism of young people and their lack of generosity and faith practice, that they are not going to Mass on Sunday and that they are falling away from the Church.

However, at the same time, these young people are putting into practice what Christ talked about. They have come and worked for months at a time at different tasks on the farm. The way in which they got on with the ordinary workers here, the young people were evangelizing in their own way, in their words and work and living.

They showed their concern for the people, they attended Mass and they weren’t trumpeting anything, just caring for others.

The Columbans have enthusiasm, and they have the love of Christ, which made them leave home and come out to places like Korea. There is comfort in the thought that the people who built the Titanic were professionals, and the person who built Noah’s Ark was an amateur. That speaks volumes and reminds us to not to be afraid to change and move with the needs of the times. Perhaps if more people were willing to do this we wouldn’t be seeing large swathes of people falling away from the Church here or in Ireland or anywhere else.

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Columban Mission.

Fr. Ray Scanlon

Fr. Ray Scanlon was on mission in Korea since his ordination in 1968, and he returned to his native Australia in 2010.

However, their leader, Fr. Owen McPolin, had been ordained for twenty years and was a veteran of four years on mission in China. Eight of the ten priests were from Ireland, and they were joined by one from Australia and one from the United States. The Australian was Jerome Sweeney, and the American was Harold Henry who eventually became bishop of the area entrusted to the Columbans. One of the young Irishmen, Dan McMenamin, died of tuberculosis after just four years in Korea; he was only 29 years of age.

At the time of their arrival in 1933, Korea was a colony harshly governed by Japan and that brought restrictions to the missionary work of the Columbans and tension to their lives. When World War II broke out a few years later, many of the first group, along with other Columbans who had followed them to Korea, were interned and three of them were actually accused of spying and were jailed for most of the war years. Those men were Frs. Austin Sweeney, Paddy Dawson and T. D. Ryan.

The Old and the New

It was not very long after WW II ended that the work of the Church in Korea was even more drastically interrupted by the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. At that time, seven Columbans died at the hands of North Korean soldiers or in captivity. Two others, Bishop Thomas Quinlan and Fr. Philip Crosbie, survived the horrendous death march. Of course, many Catholics were killed and many more moved south to escape the Communist regime in the north. Following the truce that brought an end to the hostilities much of the missionaries’ time was taken up with relief work to help the people who had lost everything.

A long period of Church growth and development followed. Many more Columbans traveled to Korea in the footsteps of the fi rst group. In fact, altogether a total of 257 Columban priests have worked in Korea. The largest number in the country at any one time was 153 during 1970-71. At one time in 1977, Columban missionaries were working in nine different dioceses in Korea. In all, Columbans were responsible for starting a total of 129 parishes.

Until the 1970s, parish ministry was essential for Columbans in Korea. The people were eager to hear the Good News, and the number of Korean priests available to staff the parishes was small. Fortunately, since those days, standards of living and levels of education have improved, and many young Korean men were able to answer the call to join the diocesan priesthood and take over the work of parish ministry. Today only one Columban can claim the title of parish priest and his parish is one of the smallest in the country.

As the need for parish priests lessened, many other needs came to the notice of Columbans. They started special apostolates and became chaplains to hospitals, university students and labor apostolates. Columbans worked with farmers, migrant workers, the urban poor, the physically and mentally disabled, gamblers and those suffering from alcoholism. They taught in universities, gave retreats and offered spiritual direction, developed home industries for women, set up counseling centers and engaged in various justice, peace and ecological endeavors. Many of these apostolates have also been taken up by Korean clergy and religious.

Much of the thrust of our work in more recent times has come under the heading of “helping the Korean Church to become more missionary.” Beginning in the mid 1980s we were permitted to take Korean candidates for membership in our Society. A total of fifteen Korean diocesan priests have become Columban associates and worked with us in the Philippines, Peru and Chile. Currently there are priest associates on mission in South America. Every year we hold month-long workshops for Korean Church personnel going overseas on mission. We also have a strong group of Korean benefactors who help our missionary work by their interest and their spiritual and material support.

Columban Korean lay missionaries have gone to work in Fiji, the Philippines, Myanmar, Chile, Japan, the United States and Ireland. The Columban lay missionary program in Korea is very active, both sending and receiving. Columban Sisters came to mission in Korea in 1955. They set up hospitals and clinics in four different dioceses where Columban priests were administering parishes and provided invaluable help to the people especially in times of poverty and poor medical services.

Like the Columban Fathers, the Sisters recently have branched out in their work to help the disabled, AIDS sufferers, victims of sex trafficking and factory workers. Today they have a number of professed Korean women in their ranks, most of whom are working in various overseas mission areas.

The work of Columbans in Korea continues to change, but the mission remains the same. We have been blessed to spread the Good News in Korea and to mentor and teach others to do the same elsewhere.

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Columban Mission.

Columban Sr. Miriam Cousins began her ministry in Korea in 1971 and today is working with AIDS patients in a number of shelters she set up to accommodate them. Her original intention was to counsel the patients living with HIV/AIDS, not to set up a shelter for them. She had been working in an area known for prostitution and there ran a little shelter for women.

Fr. Malachy Smyth

After many years in Korea, Fr. Malachy Smyth now lives in Ireland.

Read more about the work of the Columban Fathers in Korea

One day at the shelter Sr. Miriam was asked to meet with someone, and she said yes. When the person arrived for the meeting, it was a man; the shelter that Sr. Miriam was running was for women only. The shelter had only three small rooms, and there were already eight women there. But she had been preparing a small room in the yard by converting a storeroom into a prayer room because there was nowhere in the house to escape for a bit of peace and quiet.

When the call came from the man who was HIV positive and looking for shelter, she was in the process of putting up wallpaper on what was to be their prayer room. So, in the confusion of the moment, she decided to house the man in the prayer room for a few days until she could decide what to do. She started to make phone calls around to arrange to have him moved to another place, but none of the institutes she contacted were ready to take a patient with HIV.

Mass celebrated on World AIDS Day

After about five weeks she went to see the late Cardinal Kim, who expressed surprise that she had a man staying in the little house. The Cardinal had already visited the house and saw the work Sister Miriam was doing with the prostitutes, so he listened very closely to what she was saying. When she had finished the Cardinal said he couldn’t help her immediately but that he would talk to the Bishop and to Catholic Social Services. A week later a phone call came from the office of the social services saying they would help, but that it could not be much.

In the meantime, Sr. Miriam had scouted around and had found a small two-room house for sale. With help from Catholic Social Services together with donations she had received, they were able to buy the house which became the first shelter for HIV/AIDS patients. Within eighteen months, she was able to raise enough funds to buy a larger house. At the same time Sr. Miriam was still working with the people caught up in prostitution and the two jobs were proving to be a bit too much. She felt called to concentrate on the HIV/AIDS patients full time.

Eventually she opened up the shelters to anyone with HIV/AIDS, both male and female. Within a year, Sr. Miriam purchased another larger house with room to accommodate children as well. As time went by she began to see that there were other men and women who were HIV positive in addition to having physical or mental disabilities who were in urgent need of help. At this point she made the transition to accommodate these people as well.

Later, a chiropractor came along who wanted to be associated with the work, and it was a great boost for the rehabilitation work when he joined the program. Aside from the misconception that AIDS is a disease (it is a virus that causes the immune system to stop working properly, thus leaving the person vulnerable to disease), fear is the biggest problem for patients. It is also the biggest problem for Sr. Miriam and staff because they have to keep a low profile about the work. For example, even the Catholics in their area don’t know they are taking care of people with AIDS.

Local and Church leaders at the World AIDS Day 2010 celebration

It is believed that if the neighbors knew about the patients, the neighbors would assume that everyone coming and going from the house had AIDS. Fearing exposure to the virus, people in the area would not tolerate the program. The staff and the patients struggle with keeping the true purpose of the shelter a secret.

When someone is first diagnosed with HIV/AIDS they wonder who to tell and who shouldn’t be trusted. Sometimes a family member is the last person they would tell.

The fear of contracting AIDS is very strong, and the lack of real information is a big problem. One person thought she could get it from a handshake, another person was afraid to use a public phone in fear of contracting it that way. Sister Miriam goes on to explain, “I have lived with AIDS patients now for ten years, and I have no fear of contracting the illness. We live together, we eat together – there is no way you can get AIDS with ordinary living.”

In speaking about the HIV/AIDS patients’ attitudes about their illness Sr. Miriam affirms that, “they have taken on society’s approach, which unfortunately is: keep them at a distance. The patient has bought into this and stays at a distance. There is a fear of breaking out, a fear of talking. The other thing is that they would blame themselves for getting this illness, for getting infected. When they are first diagnosed, many young people often quit their jobs, because they can’t face their peers knowing they have this problem. Sometimes they live in denial, at times up to a year, before they can accept the fact that they have AIDS and must live with it. It is still very much within the gay community in Korea. It happens there first. They haven’t any close family ties a lot of the times, because of the gay issue.”

In 2007, Church involvement in the whole area of HIV/AIDS increased as local churches began to support the work as a collective body. Many other religious groups have also become involved in the meantime, setting up shelters and living with the HIV/AIDS patients. There is a meeting once a month wherein the different groups come together to share experiences. Catholic Social Services in Seoul, which is a very big organization, has undertaken to support the ministry as well. They are also encouraging the local papers, radio and television stations to really focus and assist in the ongoing information and education necessary to combat the spread of AIDS in Korea.

Worldwide, HIV/AIDS is a serious problem. While significant advances in medications have improved the lives of those with the virus, HIV/AIDS remains incurable. It is the work of Sr. Miriam, and others like her throughout the world, which provides not only care and treatment to HIV/AIDS patients but also a tangible reminder of God’s love for all.

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Columban Mission.

Fr. Sean Conneely

Fr. Sean Conneely lives and works in Korea.
Read more about Columban works in Korea

Thomas raised his hand and did not allow me to finish, and he began: “You don’t know how blessed you are. For the last two days you have shown us the primary school you attended and the church you attended since childhood. We just dined with your three sisters and brother-in-law in the house you were born in, and we met people of your village that you have known since you were born over 60 years ago. You don’t know or appreciate how blessed you are. Look at me— I left home at the age of 18 and never got to say goodbye to my parents and family. In the 57 years since I left, I never had the chance to visit the house or village I was born in. I have no relatives or friends from childhood. That’s my plight and the plight of many people who escaped from North Korea in 1950. You are blessed; you have something better than gold. Nothing can replace the gift of family and homeland and long-lasting friends.”

Thomas is one of the many North Koreans who left their homes in the North to escape the Communist regime in the late 1940s until the 38th parallel border was set in 1953. Many were luckier than Thomas, and they came with all or some of their family. In Thomas’s case, he left home one morning in December 1950 because he heard there was an American army cargo ship leaving from Wonsan for Busan in the south. He was one of the luckier ones who got on the ship and reached Busan safely.

Thomas was the eldest son of a large family. As he left that morning, he never imagined that he would not see his parents or any of his brothers and sisters again. For him, it was going to be a safe journey to escape his duty in the Kim Il Sung Youth Brigade. He was sure the war would be over in the spring, and he would be back home with his family to plant the rice in a united Korea with the help of the American and U.N. armies. All of that is history that didn’t happen.

Sixty years later, Korea is divided at the 38th parallel with armistice talks going on every day in Panmunjom at the Freedom Bridge Crossing. And no civilian crosses from either side. Sixty years in the Orient is the full circle of life. In a person’s age, it’s called the Hwangap, the ripe old age when a person is honored for one’s accomplishment.

This year in Korea conjured hope for awhile that something new would happen, that maybe people might come together. There was hope that the cold ice of hostility and resentment might melt and that people might be able to return home freely to visit their native land and pray at their families’ gravesides. Together northern and southern relatives would join together and sing and dance with their great old song Arirang. As I write this, the cold ice is not melting. In fact, the two sides seem further apart now than during the last two years due to the serious incidence in March when a South Korean naval ship was blown up supposedly by a North Korean torpedo. The Hwangap fullness of time will not be this year unless God intervenes in some special way.

Yes, Thomas was right about how blessed I am to have a family, home and a local village to visit. Thomas later related to me the many trials he has endured since coming south. He sought freedom from communism in the south, but because he came on his own he was suspected of being a spy at first.

Even when he passed the exam to join the South Korean air force, he wasn’t trusted to fl y a plane in case he would fly north. When he arrived below the parallel, he had no friends or family. When he reached marriage age no family wanted to give their daughter in marriage to a man without family, an orphan so to speak, no permanent job and no house or prospects. Yet Thomas was lucky to meet his wife, Regina. They have been together more than 50 years. He was welcomed into her family, and they in turn cared for her family. Together they built one small business after another and raised and educated four children. Thomas didn’t have any religion when he came south but through meeting Regina he was introduced to the Catholic Church and was baptized.

Though his new family and business made it possible for him to survive in the south, Thomas’ heart was always in the north with his family of origin. For years, he wrote a weekly letter to his family at home that he could never mail although he published some of those letters in a book a few years ago. In those letters, Thomas recorded the sorrow and the pain of losing a family and not being able to make any contact with his loved ones across the border in the north, less than a hundred miles away. He wrote about not knowing if his parents were alive or dead, and his shame, guilt and sorrow as the eldest son not being allowed to pay his dutiful respect to his aging parents or care for them in any way.

Thomas also wrote about his anger at those who were keeping him apart from his family. Life can be difficult for anyone but to have to carry this pain makes life even more burdensome.

As Thomas looks over his life with all its highs and lows, one of the high points that he identifi es is his and his wife’s introduction to and involvement in Marriage Encounter. Shortly after the Korean language Marriage Encounter weekends started in Korea in 1977, Thomas and Regina participated in a weekend program.

They then went on to be presenters on weekends and became the National Representatives in 1980. They not only presented at weekend programs in Korea but also in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for the Korean Diaspora. In 1982, they also presented various enrichment programs in parishes and schools across the country. I had the privilege of starting the Choice Enrichment Program for Youth in Seoul and other dioceses in Korea with them. At an age, 80 years, when many other people have put up their feet to enjoy a quiet retirement, Thomas and Regina started what they call The Evergreen Program as a support for retired couples.

As we were discussing his life and involvement in Marriage Encounter one thing began to become clear: that through Marriage Encounter his great passion and love for his own family and the families of others must be connected in some way unconsciously and spiritually to his desire to care for his own lost family of origin. Through this ministry, Thomas gains the family he lost and a sense of belonging for himself. Whatever the unconscious motive may be it is clear that God has called and guided Thomas in family ministry to share God’s love in his own family and to help thousands of families over the years to enjoy the fruits of the sacrament of marriage.

I look on my life and calling as one of a missionary from Ireland to Korea, but by meeting and working with Thomas I see that God calls other people to be missionaries in their own land. The Korean War was a tragedy and its aftereffects still are, but out of this tragedy, sorrow and grief God has called people like Thomas to give their life in a special way to others.

Those who sailed south past the demilitarized zone were called to give life, hope, faith and joy to other people broken by the war and its aftermath. The power of the human will and spirit joined to God’s spirit is greater than all tragedies.

This article originally appeared in Columban Mission.

“We need spiritual support,” the chief engineer of M/V Grand Blue, a general cargo ship, said after the Mass on board. “We thank Stella Maris for visiting us and supporting us like this,” the captain of the ship added.

When we — a Filipino priest and a Columban lay missionary — arrived at the ship at 5 p.m., the crew of the M/V Grand Blue had been waiting for us in their mess room or dining room. The mess room was filled with sixteen crew members and officers present for Mass. The dining table was covered with a white cloth and decorated with a big candle that had a small cross on it. The candle was set up on the bottom of a rice bowl which was upside down. It was simple but impressive. They prepared for the Mass with what they had on the ship and from the need in their hearts. I could feel how eagerly the crew was waiting for the Mass that day.

Columban lay missionary Soon-Ho Kim (left)

Each time I have experienced Mass on sailing vessels it has been different. Most of the time the Masses have been held in the mess room of the vessel, where we were surrounded by a rice cooker, refrigerator, television and trash cans. Next to the mess room is the galley, or kitchen. During the Mass I usually hear the noise of an engine which runs continuously, 24 hours a day, even when the vessel is in port. Most commercial cargo ships have very little space for the seafarers themselves. Sometimes Mass is celebrated on the bridge of the ship if there is no other location that will accommodate everyone who wants to attend.

Through the years, I have seldom received calls from shipping agencies when seafarers have had an accident or sudden death on a vessel while sailing. Last year we were called for a seafarer who died in a tragic accident. We met and visited with some of the crew on that vessel. When they explained what happened to their colleague, they were very sad. However, I could see the expressions on their faces change after the Mass for them and for their colleague who had died. They seemed to be relieved. Some of them started to talk. Even after straightening up after the accident, they could not sleep, and they had wanted to leave the vessel. But the Mass brought them the feeling that again they were protected by God, so they could continue their work and sleep properly.

Apostleship of the Sea (among seafarers, known as Stella Maris) has been supporting seafarers for more than 30 years in the port of Yokohama in Japan. Yokohama is the biggest port in terms of total tonnage of cargo in Japan. In one day more than 50 commercial vessels come and go through the port.

Annually more than 200,000 seafarers come to the port of Yokohama. Altogether 1.5 million seamen work there daily. In spite of the fact that they are playing a major role in the world’s economy, the seafarers appear to have been rejected by ordinary society.

Apostleship of the Sea Yokohama has been focusing on visiting ships in port including commercial vessels, general cargo ships, container ships, car carriers and others. We do not consider nationality, religion or race of the people we serve. The people we serve hail from the Philippines, China, Burma, India, Korea, some European countries, the Ukraine, Poland and Russia.

Mass in the mess room on board the ship

I did not know about this ministry before being trained by a former full time chaplain eleven years ago. I have learned that it is quite difficult for seafarers to have a chance to attend Mass. I have seen their hard work, faithfulness, commitment, openness to strangers and affection for their families in addition to their love of God through my work with AOS.

Since I began my involvement with AOS, the condition of seafarers has changed. Some aspects have improved. Unfortunately, some are getting worse. The time that the ships stay in port has been diminishing. Faster loading and discharging of cargo has become standard operating procedure which leads to very hectic schedules for those working on the ships during their time in port. I see very few ships staying even one night in port due to the fact that the more time the ship takes in port, the more the shipping company’s expenses and costs increase. Even if the vessel stays in port on a weekend with no cargo operation, the crew has daily routine duties on board, even on Sunday. No one has enough time to go ashore. Moreover, the security in port has been getting stricter which makes it difficult not only for seafarer’s shore leave but also for our visitation to ships.

Whenever I ask seafarers what the most difficult thing is with their lives, the answer is almost always the same—being away from their families. The length of an employment contract is between nine and twelve months. Recently, officers from some countries have made four and six month contracts. These shorter contracts are very few in number.

During their contract period, the seafarers are not able to contact their families very often. Even in port areas, the telephone system is different, and they cannot use their mobile phones. There are some businessmen who sell phone cards, but seafarers must still find telephone booths where they can use an international telephone card. Even when they do manage to find a public telephone near the pier area, there is usually not enough time for everyone to use it.

The Apostleship of the Sea Yokohama has changed dramatically since 2008. After the departure of the full time priest for AOS Yokahama, the diocese decided not to appoint another. Moreover, the budget for the ministry was cut. In April 2008, the Flying Angel seamen’s center was closed. The center was owned by the Anglican Church, and AOS worked out of the center.

Since April 2008, AOS Yokohama has operated without a center or even an office. Fortunately, we do have a van. Without such a vehicle we could not approach the port area and visit ships. With the van we give seafarers free transportation service to ther seamen’s clubs, shopping malls, churches, the train station and other destinations. Currently, AOS Yokohama has two people who regularly visit the ships—an American volunteer who is an “old Japan hand” and me. Several other volunteer members visit on an irregular basis. Whenever we are asked for a Mass on board, we have to find a priest. Sometimes we cannot make an arrangement for the seafarer’s request due to schedules of the priests.

Mostly, I visit ships by myself on Saturday and Sunday. My priority is visiting ships that are staying during weekends and/or at remote port areas. Seafarers’ access to commercial areas is inconvenient. It costs them a lot of money to leave the ship since using taxis is expensive. Language problems make them hesitant to go ashore.

In fact, language is one of the barriers to recruiting volunteers for this AOS work. Furthermore, amongst the general public there is a lack of knowledge about and little interest in the shipping field. Therefore, AOS struggles with an image problem as well. It is not easy for us to get the port authority, the customs office and the shipping agencies to understand our activities.

Despite struggles and difficulties, I have had many meaningful moments through this ministry. Most of the time when I visit ships, I receive a warm welcome. The seafarers on board show their hospitality and express their gratitude for our visitation. However, I think that the seafarers themselves are the ones who deserve our gratitude.

Even through adversity, God has shown us the way to continue this ministry. I sense God listens to the prayers of the crew on board so that we may continue visiting them.

Columban lay missionary Soon-Ho Kim works in Japan.
This article first appeared in Columban Mission.