Columbans have served Korean Catholics in Southern California for more than 25 years.
By Fr. Gerry Dunne

In June 2002, the Korean community from the St. Gregory Nazianzen Catholic Church parish in downtown Los Angeles held a song byol sik, a farewell party for Columban Father Noel Ryan.

Soon after, Fr. Ryan was succeeded by Fr. Alex Chong, a Korean-born priest who was educated in the United States and ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Fr. Ryan’s departure ended an important era in the Columbans’ ministry to Los Angeles’ Korean Catholic community. During the farewell celebration, the parish council president spoke of how Columban missionaries had “sown the seeds and cultivated the faith” of the Korean community at St. Gregory Nazianzen over the past 23 years.

St. Gregory Nazianzen Catholic Church lies on the western edge of Los Angeles’ “Koreatown.” Immigrants arrived here from Korea in the 1970s, living in apartments and running small businesses in the area. But language and cultural differences prevented most new arrivals from quickly integrating into American culture, especially religious practice.

The Valley Catholic Korean Apostolate in Canoga Park, California, ministers to the faith needs of Los Angeles-area Korean Catholics. Pictured here is Fr. Gerry Dunne with members of the church choir.

Young parents, whose children had quickly learned English, soon realized they needed a priest who could minister to their English-speaking children while taking care of the older Korean-language generation. They asked the Columbans for help.

In June 1978, Columban Father Frank Mannion began saying Mass in both languages at the Patrician Brothers’ novitiate. He later established the Holy Martyrs Korean parish in Orange County and began traveling to Las Vegas each month to say Mass for Korean Catholics there.

A Faith Community Is Born
In June 1979, Fr. Tony Mortell began to celebrate Mass in Korean for St. Gregory Nazianzen’s Korean parishioners. One Korean Catholic woman, Angela Kim, tells how after attending Mass in English for months, she was tempted to switch to a nearby Protestant church until Fr. Mortell’s Korean-language Masses began. Today her son, Fr. Alex Kim, is a priest in the archdiocese.

As the number of Catholics at St. Gregory Nazianzen increased, the parish set up Korean communities in the St. Basil, St. Paul of the Cross and St. Agnes parishes. Meanwhile, Columban Father Desmond Maguire arrived in Los Angeles and began ministering to Koreans in San Diego.

Our ministry to Korean immigrants in Southern California is a Columban story of following the people to whom we are committed. When Columbans began their work in Korea in 1933, most Koreans were farmers. Columban efforts focused on building parishes in rural areas of the provinces of Chollanamdo and Kangwondo. But during Korea’s industrial revolution in the 1960s, huge numbers of people flocked to the urban centers of Seoul, Inchon and Pusan in search of jobs and opportunities.

Columbans become a part of that migration, opening new parishes in these areas. So it was logical that Columbans would follow the Koreans when they migrated to Los Angeles, Chicago and other U.S. cities.

As one Columban working in Los Angeles put it, “this apostolate might not be the major league of missionary outreach, but you can sure have a lot of fun in the minors!”

A New Apostolate
Among the Catholics attending Mass at the St. Gregory Nazianzen parish in the early 1980s was a group of 50 Koreans from the San Fernando Valley about 25 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Because of the long round trip each week, they asked Fr. Mortell to say Mass occasionally in the Valley. On November 28, 1982, Fr. Mortell celebrated the first Mass in Korean in the home of one of the Valley Catholics.

When word of the Korean Masses spread, the community quickly grew. Within three months, the pastor of St. Brigid of Sweden Catholic Church welcomed them into his parish, and Fr. Ryan was appointed chaplain. As the number of Korean parishioners continued to increase even St. Brigid of Sweden could not accommodate them, so they decided to find a new location.

Eventually a local Carpenters Union hall in Canoga Park was purchased and converted into the Valley Catholic Korean Apostolate. In September 1989, Fr. Derek Harris, who had replaced Fr. Ryan, celebrated the first Mass there.

This year, the Valley Korean Catholics celebrated the 20th anniversary of its origins as a community. The original group of 50 has grown into a vibrant, active community of about 1,400 people. Masses are celebrated in both Korean and English.

The Valley Catholic Korean Apostolate parish council helps me, the current pastor, plan all aspects of parish life, including the liturgy, evangelization, programs for the elderly, youth activities and religious education classes for younger children. Most parishioners are active in the parish through membership organizations such as the Legion of Mary and the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Columban missionaries have made a huge contribution to the faith of Korean Catholics in Southern California. But like all cross-cultural missionaries, we have been just as enriched by the people with whom we have worked. In sharing the lives and struggles of these Korean immigrants, we Columbans have been deeply touched and reaffirmed in our vocation and faith. And along the way we have enjoyed the support and friendship of a people renowned for their hospitality and generosity.