50th year of Marist presence in Korea

This year of 2021, the Brothers in Korea are celebrating the 50th year of Marist presence in the country. One of the activities organized for the commemoration is a pilgrimage of an image of our Good Mother around the houses of relatives, friends, and benefactors of the Brothers. Such pilgrimage started during the first week of January.

The first four Brothers (Mexicans) arrived in Korea on September 13rd 1971. They were Br. Enrique Ruiz, leader of the community, Br. Jesús Rodriguez, Br. Sergio Gutiérrez and Br. Manuel Villarreal. Another group of four Brothers came in 1972, to complete the founding Marist community. Br. Héctor Villarreal, Br. Eduardo Ramirez, Br. Ricardo Piña and Br. Juan Castro, formed this second group.

After the second year in the country, the Brothers received the first aspirants who started to live with the Brothers. The present Korea Sector house was bought in 1974 in order to accommodate the increasing number of Korean aspirants who joined the Brothers in this new project to continue the dream of Marcellin in the Land of the Morning Calm.

At present, there are 5 communities in Korea. Two of them are in Seoul, one in Ansan, a fourth in Chungju and the fifth is in Jechon.

Br. Alfredo Herrera, from the Japan-Korea Sector, lists a summary of each community below:

The two communities in Seoul

Here we have two communities and we carry out various activities. One of them functions as the Korea-Japan Sector House. Of the two communities in Seoul (which are on the same property) one functions as the central house of the Korea-Japan Sector where, in addition to the Sector Co-ordinator, Brothers of different ages reside and are involved in different ministries. Among them we also have a Brother in temporary vows who is doing various studies. The other community in Seoul has the task of administering and running the Marist Educational Centre, where many groups come for seminars, workshops, retreats, meetings, and a wide variety of other programmes. On our property in Seoul, we also offer counselling services to young people, religious and seminarians on request. Some are groups of catechists from various parishes and dioceses; youth from parish groups; children from catechetical groups from various parishes; liturgical groups; students from Catholic universities who come for a retreat or other programme; nursing students or professional nurses; parish groups (Marian Legion, Franciscan Tertiaries, etc.) for a day of retreat or another programme. Brothers Timothy Song and Damaso Jeon are in charge of the maintenance of the house.

In the “Centre for local children” (literal translation of the name) children and teenagers from the area or nearby areas reinforce their academic studies in the afternoons, play games and socialise with other children or young people of their age. In addition, some cultural and recreational activities are provided (visits to recreational parks, factories, tourist sites).

Within the Sector building (residence of one of the communities in Seoul) there is a Psychological Counseling Centre called “BOM-GIL” (Spring Road) where Brother John Vianney offers his service to adolescents and young adults who ask for help in this line. The brother has been certified as a counselling specialist by both the Korean Counselling Therapy Association and the Catholic Counselling Association. During the year he sees about 45 people with a total of about 150 sessions. In the same building, Br. Alfredo offers a vocational accompaniment service to young religious men and women in formation and to other religious women and priests who ask for this accompaniment.

The Ansan Community

It is the aspirancy-postulancy house of the sector, although we do not have any candidates at present. The Brothers who live there have various roles on behalf of the Sector as well as doing vocation promotion work”.

The Chungju community

The community in Chungju is more than 30 years old. A building was built there as a residence for children and adolescents at risk for various reasons (orphanage, abandonment, petty delinquency…).  In 2004 the institution was transformed into a residence for boys with a certain mental deficiency. At the beginning of 2017, it changed its name again to Truly Pleasant Home (“Ch’am Choun Chib”) with young people with severe mental deficiency as residents. This place is run by Bros. Laurencio Park, as director and Paul Won in charge of the maintenance of the house, plus 34 other people (including cooks, nurse, clerks, therapists, driver, etc.) dedicated to the personal care of the residents who are currently about 30.

In addition to this residential institution, within the Chungju property there is also the Marist Sheltered Workshop. This workshop, which has existed since the beginning of this house in Chungju (to initiate the boys in some trades) and whose nature has been changing as the working capacities of the residents have changed, has become in the last 15 years a work-employment centre where the graduates of our residential facility can earn a living in an environment suitable for them (hence the qualifier “sheltered” in the name of the centre) and doing work that is within the range of their intellectual capacity. At present there are about 30 boys between those who are temporarily trained and those who are permanent employees of the workshop. Besides Bro. Moses, Mr. Ju Bom Kim and the Director, there are 8 other people employed at this place.

The community of Jechon

By now the Marist Eco-spiritual Center at this site is undergoing a transformation. The place has been and continues to be used for individual and small group retreats. The tranquility of the place favours these moments of solitude and prayer in nature. The Ecological Centre was gradually developed through the hard work of Brother John Oh. Wild flowers were planted, several domestic animals were obtained (some dogs, many hens, ducks, birds, some lambs), vegetables were planted, a small garden was made, and in the river that runs alongside the house and descends from the mountain, a small natural “swimming pool” was adapted, which has been the delight of children and young people who come during the summer. All these facilities, as well as the surrounding mountains, have been used in the ecological awareness and care programmes in which different groups of children, young people and young adults have come into contact with nature, have learned to appreciate and care for it while gaining greater awareness of their own person and the environment in which they live.