SVD KOREA REGION: BIBLICAL APOSTOLATE IN KOREA

Fr. PAIS Jacob, has been serving as Divine Word religious-missionary in South Korea for over than 25 years. He especially focuses his ministry on Bible Ministry with concern for Korean Family and Youth.
He also gives retreats and courses, charismatic meetings and conferences, and have a constant regular group who come to our community for Marian Devotion, Holy Hours and Spiritual direction
The writing below,was his sharing report during the ASPAC Biblical Coordinators meeting held in Nagoya, Japan, last 2010.

 Bible Course and study:

I started the Bible course and education in the month of April 2010. Once a month about 20 to 25 people participate in this course. Most of the participants are women, since the course is conducted during the day time from 1 p.m. to 5. I began with a thorough study, commentary, application to daily life, meditation and wind up with the Eucharist. The participation is genuine and deep. There is a lot of deep sharing and questions, searching, and answers. The study will go on in a slow and deep manner till the end of the Bible.

Bible retreat/recollection:

I have been doing this for the past 20 years. Most of the retreats were for the religious nuns. The main retreats are for 8 full days. The retreats are centered on the Word of God. Occasionally I conducted one month’s retreat on Ignatian Spiritual exercises. But I centered those exercises on the Word of God. I changed the title from Ignatian Spiritual exercises to Bible Retreat. At an average five to nine recollections per month were conducted for the lay people in all over Korea. Most of the recollections were centered on the Word of God.

These recollection were conducted during the day time, hence most of the participants were women. Occasionally recollections were conducted on week-ends and in the evenings for male participants. Most of the recollections were conducted in various parishes. Rest of the recollections was conducted in retreat houses or in summer resorts. This is was at the invitation of the parishes or by the leaders of the various prayer groups at the parish, diocesan and national level.

Contemplative Retreats and Courses:

I started the contemplative retreats initially for the religious people. Gradually it was directed to the lay people. These retreats are based on a combination/harmony between Eastern and Western spirituality. Eastern methods are used for contemplation and Western input is given based on the Bible. There is a deepening contemplation on the Word of God. There are five groups at various stages coming once a month to our SVD house in Seoul for contemplative recollection and workshop.

Since the Korean Catholic Church is very Roman, most of the activities are centered on the parish level at the direction of the parish priest. It is very rubrical and formal. Generally there is no deeper spiritual experience at this level. Hence the people are searching for deeper spiritual learning and experience. Such kinds of people come for contemplative recollection and workshop.

Charismatic meetings and conferences:

In the course of my involvement in directing retreats and recollections at the parish and diocesan level for the past 20 years, the charismatic prayers groups started inviting me for their prayer meetings and seminars. The main purpose of inviting me for such meetings is the Word of God. Since I centered my recollections and retreats on the Bible the charismatic groups wanted to have their prayers centered on the Word. At an average five to 8 charismatic prayer meetings I participate every month at the parish, diocesan and national level. Most of the prayer meetings are held at night and some the whole night.

 Marian Devotions:

Korean has the highest number of devotees for mother Mary in the world. Practically every big parish has got a Curia or Commission of the Legion of Mary. The lay people are almost fanatic to this devotion. The participation is excellent. Occasionally these groups invite for a day’s recollection at the parish level. They invite me for such Marian recollection precisely because I center my conferences on the Word of God.

Once a month there is a half day Marian devotion in our SVD house in Seoul. It is held on first Saturdays of every month from 9 am to 1 pm. About 20 to 30 people participate in this devotion.

Challenges:

Place: Until the month May last year we had a retreat house to conduct various recollections, retreats and prayer meetings. Now that we had to sell the retreat house during a special project from the neighboring University there is no appropriate place to conduct the various spiritual activities. At present I am conducting these activities in our formation house in Seoul. We have priests, seminarians and brothers living in this house. But they are quite open and tolerant towards these groups. But this is not the ideal place for such spiritual activities. We need a proper place.

Challenges from the Korean Catholic Hierarchy:

The Korean Catholic Church is very Roman and conservative. At times it could be fundamental and fanatic. My retreats, recollections and prayer meetings are not conservative, at times very radical. Sometimes it is hard to go the way I preach, teach and share on a deeper level.

         Activities planned for the future:

I will continue the same activities which I am involved now.

I will coordinate these activities with the diocesan and religious leaders, who are involved in similar activities.

I will involve the SVD confreres in these activities. So far I was doing these activities all by myself. Now that a few confreres are interested and trained in these activities I will form a team. One of the Korean confreres is actively involved in giving recollections and charismatic retreats. We are already started working hand in hand.

Ansan Community: SVD Galilea Migrant Center

The SVD Korea Region has a center for migrant workers, namely: SVD GALILEA MIGRANT CENTER.
This center began by a Filipino confrere some years ago to help the need of so many Filipinos and Filipinas who come to Korea for work or have multicultural family.
In its progress as a center, this center later widely opened for migrant workers from other countries who need its help.
At present, in the Region, four confreres are fully involved in this ministry. They are: Fr. PIATU Kristianus, Fr. PEREZ Jun, Fr. NAIKOFI Guido and Br. BAEK Michael.

The center provides some help for the migrant workers from the preparation into their job and especially to adjust the life and culture in Korea.
Confreres do not just work in the office, but they are actively make an outreach, to seek those who need help, or the workers who need their help can contact them and ask for their guidance and help.
Recently many migrant workers come to the center, for multi purpose reason but normally, they come
for mass and some consultation.

As the Region put its concern on the pastoral for migrant ministry. This center is primarily belong to SVD but it also open to colabarate with the local church and the local government, whose aid and support needed by the center to develop it's better service for the migrant workers.
Nationalities of migrant workers in big number who come to seek the help from the GALILEA-ANSAN FILIPINO COMMUNITY are: The Filipinos, East Timorese, Thai, Africans and Indonesians.
                                          (SAKERA Luis)

Young Korean Confreres (2 scholastics doing their OTP overseas)

Recently The SVD Korea Region only have two young confreres (scholastics) who have completed their study of theology is Seoul Major Seminary.
They are Frt. scholastic Lee Chae Chol Gabriel, SVD and Frt. scholastic Kim Nam Doo John, SVD.
Frt. Gabriel is now in Australia Province,ASPAC:
 doing his OTP/CTP program, whereas Frt. John has been doing his OTP/CTP program in Ghana Province, AFRAM.
This file photo show on after their first vows in our chapel in St. Josef Freinademetz Formation house, with, then, rector of the house.

We Greatly Need Your Help!

 

The following is a communication received by Fr. General Heinz Kulueke from our confreres in PHS, headed by the Provincial Superior Eduardo Rocha.

Fr. General endorses this great appeal for help for the victims of typhoon Haian.

 

For thousands of people in southern Philippines, life has become so unbearably painful. There seems to be no let up to calamities that claimed so many

lives and destroyed incalculable properties. Just six days ago, we were again visited by a very strong typhoon, named “Yolanda” (Hainya) that many claimed,

could be the strongest typhoon that ever formed on earth. It had a wind speed of 350 kilometers per hour near the center – making “Pablo” (Bhopa) in Mindanao, less

 than a year ago, looks like a mere wind in comparison.

 

“Yolanda” is already the sixth calamity that we have experienced in the south in less than two years. In December of 2011, there was typhoon Sendong that claimed thousands

of lives in Cagayan de Oro alone. That was immediately followed by an earthquake in Negros Oriental that buried scores of people alive. Next was the cyclone in Camiguin Island

which was soon succeeded by supertyphoon “Pablo”, the typhoon that brought trauma to our farmers no end. We have not yet overcome the effects of Pablo when another

furious earthquake struck in Bohol – the phenomenon that had only started to sink in to everyone’s psyche.  And now, just a month after, “Yolanda” came.

 

The destruction “Yolanda” (Hainya) brought to the people is beyond description. The fury of the wind that whipped on everything that stands on land and the howling storm

surge (rising sea water) were natural terrors never before experienced by any human being. Latest estimate is that eleven thousand individuals might have already perished.

Dead bodies continue to litter on the streets unclaimed. Buildings, houses and trees were all felled down to the ground. Most roads and bridges are hard to traverse due to

fallen structures and trees. Airports and seaports remain non-functional. Electricity is non-existent and may take two months to restore. Water is not available either. Communication

facilities are slowly restored but remain static and choppy. Five days after the storm, the people are getting more desperate. Many even have already crossed the line of insanity.

Looting on stores, gas stations and rice storages has been reported in many parts of the victim areas. Just yesterday it was reported that 8 individuals had died when a rice warehouse

collapsed raided by hungry villagers.

 

The SVDs have a number of confreres assigned to our school Liceo Del Verbo Divino in Tacloban City, the city that embraced the most devastation. All our confreres are all accounted

for but the school buildings were reported to have no more roofing and many parts destroyed. We are not sure whether our confreres still have food to eat or fresh clothes to wear.

 

In response, the Society of Divine Word, Southern Province, pooling all its resources together, for the nth time, is organizing yet another relief operation for the victims of the

typhoon “Yolanda”. The organizational meeting held yesterday was aimed at delivering rapid distributions of emergency goods, providing psycho-social debriefings and building materials

and organizing medical missions and livelihood programs. We greatly need your help to realize this aim. You can give donations in cash and in kind. For cash donations, bank accounts are listed

down below. For material donations you can send them to the address provided.

 

Less than two years; six big time calamities: is simply too difficult to bear. Nevertheless, relief operations remain generous and dedicated. “There is no rest to the wicked”, as the saying goes.

Wherever and whenever there are suffering people, we refresh and sustain our resolve to serve. We, the Divine Word Missionaries, in times of pain and difficulties, reaffirm our calling to

be at the forefront whenever our services are called for. For this is the only way we make gospel values alive, real and dynamic to the people we vowed to serve.

 

Latest update: Liceo del Verbo Divino has been converted as the center for relief operations. The school also opened its doors to house numerous victims who have lost their houses.

 

Bank accounts:

 

Euro Account:
	Account Name	:	SVD Southern Province, Inc.
	Account Number	:	1024-0253-88
	Bank Name	:	Bank of the Philippine Islands
	Bank Branch	:	Cebu Mango Branch
	Swift Code	:	BOPIPHMM
	Account Name	:	Society of the Divine Word - Southern Province, Inc.
	Account Number	:	1390310079
	Bank Name	:	Citibank
	Bank Branch	:	Cebu
	Swift Code	:	CITIPHMX
Dollar Account
	Account Name	:	SVD Southern Province, Inc.
	Account Number	:	1024-0002-53
	Bank Name	:	Bank of the Philippine Islands
	Bank Branch	:	Cebu Mango Branch
	Swift Code	:	BOPIPHMM
Peso Account
	Account Name	:	SVD Southern Province, Inc.
	Account Number	:	1025-6401-32
	Bank Name	:	Bank of the Philippine Islands
	Bank Branch	:	Cebu Mango Branch

 

 

For donations in kind:

 

Consignee:

Fr. Eduardo Rocha, SVD

SVD Provincial Superior

University of San Carlos

P. del Rosario St., Cebu City

Tel. 032 – 253 5105.

 

Hotline: (direct link)

Fr. Eugene Docoy, SVD

e-mail: eugenesvd@hotmail.com

0063 - 939 905 6750.

 

With deep gratitude,

 

Fr. Eugene Docoy, SVD

JPIC-PHS

 

 

Noted:

Fr. Eduardo Rocha, SVD

Provincial Superior

SVD - PHS

 

SVD Korea Region- Family Ministry and Mass with our friends and benefactors

Presently, one of our Korean confrere, Fr. Benedict Kim, SVD is fully dedicated his life and ministry as a region's mission secretary and director for the  promotion of vocation,
and rector of Seoul St. Josef Freinademetz Community.
Fr. Benedict in collaboration with the Pastoral family-youth team in the region, held a regular mass in our community, namely: Mass for the family, The healing mass, Mass with the benefactors, Mass for the sake of priests and religious life. He also manage a regular and constant consultation or counseling for Korean people who need our help.

SVD Korea Region Congregational Leadership (2011-2013)

Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea 2012 on May 3, 2013.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea (President: Most Rev. Peter Kang U-il) published Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea 2012 on May 3, 2013.

  

According to the Statistics as of December 31, 2012, the number of Catholics in Korea was 5,361,369, an increase of 1.6% (84,959) over the last year. This accounts for 10.3% of the total population. The total number of Catholics in Korea has slightly and consistently increased at a yearly average of 2-3% during the past 11 years.

Of the 15 dioceses and the Military Ordinariate in Korea, the Archdiocese of Seoul was the most populous with 27.1% of the total Catholics in Korea, followed by the Diocese of Suwon (15.1%), the Archdiocese of Daegu (8.8%), and the Diocese of Incheon (8.7%). The combined number of the faithful in the metropolitan area (Seoul, Suwon, Incheon and Uijeongbu) accounted for 55.9% of all the Catholics in Korea. In terms of the percentage of the Catholic population compared to the local population, the Archdiocese of Seoul was ahead of others with the rate of 13.8%, followed by the Diocese of Cheju 11.9%, the Diocese of Cheongju 11.1%, the Diocese of Suwon 10.6%, and the Archdiocese of Daegu 10.4%.

According to the Statistics, the number of newly baptized in 2012 was 132,076, a decrease of 1.8% from the previous year. The number of infants baptized amounted to 25,141, a decrease of 2.2% from the previous year.

The Statistics also indicates that the number of clergy in Korea in 2012 amounted to 4,788, with 34 bishops, including one Cardinal. There were 4,578 Korean priests and 176 foreign priests. 131 priests were newly ordained in 2012, a decrease of 7.6% from the previous year. The number of the faithful per priest was 1,149. The number of seminarians was 1,540, a decrease of 3.0% from the previous year.

The number of parishes in 2012 was 1,664, an increase of 17 over the previous year, while the number of mission stations was 796, an increase of 3 from the previous year.

With regard to men and women religious, there were 1,569 men religious, including novices, religious in temporary and perpetual vows as well as foreign religious, while there were 10,167 women religious.

The number of marriages celebrated in the Church amounted to 20,712 in 2012. Of this number 12,506 cases were marriages between a baptized and a non-baptized person. The number of the faithful who received the Sacrament of Confession was 4,894,960, a decrease of 4.6% from the previous year. The average rate for Sunday Mass attendance was 22.7% of the total Catholic population in Korea, a decrease of 0.5% from the previous year.

101,792 primary students attend the Sunday school of each parish, while 60,449 secondary school students attend the same school.

Message from the Holy Father On The Occasion of 2013 World Communications Day

2013 World Communications Day

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As the 2013 World Communications Day draws near, I would like to offer you some reflections on an increasingly important reality regarding the way in which people today communicate among themselves. I wish to consider the development of digital social networks which are helping to create a new "agora", an open public square in which people share ideas, information and opinions, and in which new relationships and forms of community can come into being.

These spaces, when engaged in a wise and balanced way, help to foster forms of dialogue and debate which, if conducted respectfully and with concern for privacy, responsibility and truthfulness, can reinforce the bonds of unity between individuals and effectively promote the harmony of the human family. The exchange of information can become true communication, links ripen into friendships, and connections facilitate communion. If the networks are called to realize this great potential, the people involved in them must make an effort to be authentic since, in these spaces, it is not only ideas and information that are shared, but ultimately our very selves.

The development of social networks calls for commitment: people are engaged in building relationships and making friends, in looking for answers to their questions and being entertained, but also in finding intellectual stimulation and sharing knowledge and know-how. The networks are increasingly becoming part of the very fabric of society, inasmuch as they bring people together on the basis of these fundamental needs. Social networks are thus nourished by aspirations rooted in the human heart.

The culture of social networks and the changes in the means and styles of communication pose demanding challenges to those who want to speak about truth and values. Often, as is also the case with other means of social communication, the significance and effectiveness of the various forms of expression appear to be determined more by their popularity than by their intrinsic importance and value. Popularity, for its part, is often linked to celebrity or to strategies of persuasion rather than to the logic of argumentation. At times the gentle voice of reason can be overwhelmed by the din of excessive information and it fails to attract attention which is given instead to those who express themselves in a more persuasive manner. The social media thus need the commitment of all who are conscious of the value of dialogue, reasoned debate and logical argumentation; of people who strive to cultivate forms of discourse and expression which appeal to the noblest aspirations of those engaged in the communication process. Dialogue and debate can also flourish and grow when we converse with and take seriously people whose ideas are different from our own. "Given the reality of cultural diversity, people need not only to accept the existence of the culture of others, but also to aspire to be enriched by it and to offer to it whatever they possess that is good, true and beautiful" (Address at the Meeting with the World of Culture, Bélem, Lisbon, 12 May 2010).

The challenge facing social networks is how to be truly inclusive: thus they will benefit from the full participation of believers who desire to share the message of Jesus and the values of human dignity which his teaching promotes. Believers are increasingly aware that, unless the Good News is made known also in the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people for whom this existential space is important. The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young. Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant presence there.

The ability to employ the new languages is required, not just to keep up with the times, but precisely in order to enable the infinite richness of the Gospel to find forms of expression capable of reaching the minds and hearts of all. In the digital environment the written word is often accompanied by images and sounds. Effective communication, as in the parables of Jesus, must involve the imagination and the affectivity of those we wish to invite to an encounter with the mystery of God’s love. Besides, we know that Christian tradition has always been rich in signs and symbols: I think for example of the Cross, icons, images of the Virgin Mary, Christmas cribs, stained-glass windows and pictures in our churches. A significant part of mankind’s artistic heritage has been created by artists and musicians who sought to express the truths of the faith.

In social networks, believers show their authenticity by sharing the profound source of their hope and joy: faith in the merciful and loving God revealed in Christ Jesus. This sharing consists not only in the explicit expression of their faith, but also in their witness, in the way in which they communicate "choices, preferences and judgements that are fully consistent with the Gospel, even when it is not spoken of specifically" (Message for the 2011World Communications Day). A particularly significant way of offering such witness will be through a willingness to give oneself to others by patiently and respectfully engaging their questions and their doubts as they advance in their search for the truth and the meaning of human existence. The growing dialogue in social networks about faith and belief confirms the importance and relevance of religion in public debate and in the life of society.

For those who have accepted the gift of faith with an open heart, the most radical response to mankind’s questions about love, truth and the meaning of life – questions certainly not absent from social networks – are found in the person of Jesus Christ. It is natural for those who have faith to desire to share it, respectfully and tactfully, with those they meet in the digital forum. Ultimately, however, if our efforts to share the Gospel bring forth good fruit, it is always because of the power of the word of God itself to touch hearts, prior to any of our own efforts. Trust in the power of God’s work must always be greater than any confidence we place in human means. In the digital environment, too, where it is easy for heated and divisive voices to be raised and where sensationalism can at times prevail, we are called to attentive discernment. Let us recall in this regard that Elijah recognized the voice of God not in the great and strong wind, not in the earthquake or the fire, but in "a still, small voice" (1 Kg 19:11-12). We need to trust in the fact that the basic human desire to love and to be loved, and to find meaning and truth – a desire which God himself has placed in the heart of every man and woman – keeps our contemporaries ever open to what Blessed Cardinal Newman called the "kindly light" of faith.
Social networks, as well as being a means of evangelization, can also be a factor in human development. As an example, in some geographical and cultural contexts where Christians feel isolated, social networks can reinforce their sense of real unity with the worldwide community of believers. The networks facilitate the sharing of spiritual and liturgical resources, helping people to pray with a greater sense of closeness to those who share the same faith. An authentic and interactive engagement with the questions and the doubts of those who are distant from the faith should make us feel the need to nourish, by prayer and reflection, our faith in the presence of God as well as our practical charity: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor 13:1).

In the digital world there are social networks which offer our contemporaries opportunities for prayer, meditation and sharing the word of God. But these networks can also open the door to other dimensions of faith. Many people are actually discovering, precisely thanks to a contact initially made online, the importance of direct encounters, experiences of community and even pilgrimage, elements which are always important in the journey of faith. In our effort to make the Gospel present in the digital world, we can invite people to come together for prayer or liturgical celebrations in specific places such as churches and chapels. There should be no lack of coherence or unity in the expression of our faith and witness to the Gospel in whatever reality we are called to live, whether physical or digital. When we are present to others, in any way at all, we are called to make known the love of God to the furthest ends of the earth.

I pray that God’s Spirit will accompany you and enlighten you always, and I cordially impart my blessing to all of you, that you may be true heralds and witnesses of the Gospel. "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15).
             

From the Vatican, 24 January 2013, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.
 BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Migrant ministry: Vietnamese Community.

One of our ministry in Korea is Pastoral Migrant Ministry. This consider also as our primary ministry. We have many confreres working to help the laborers, the multicultural families and the undocumented foreign workers to get their right and especially to help them to adjust with Korean life and culture.
Presently, we have 7 confreres fully involved and active in this ministry, and they work in the area of different community.
The pictures above show on Fr. Peter Sam, SVD who dedicated himself so many years in Korea, to serve Vietnamese people who are working or have multicultural family. He works in collaboration with the local church (The arch diocese of Seoul) and has an office in the Pastoral laborer center, located in Bomun-dong, Seoul.

One of our confrere of SVD Korea Region: Fr. Jacob Pais, SVD is fully dedicated his life and ministry to serve the Korean people, especially in the Bible and retreat ministry. Fr. Jacob has a constant group of Bible study who come regularly in our community, having mass together and continued with bible study and reflection.
He also concern with the family and youth in the Korean community, and many times has a regular counseling or healing with people from different religion who come to see for healing and consultation.

SVD KOREA REGION- GATHERING TOGETHER