Marist Pastoral work in Seoul

Every year In the Marist Educational Centre of the community of Seoul (Korea) different activities are carried out, and many groups make use of the centre to develop their programmes: catechists of diverse parish and diocesan groups; young people belonging to parochial groups; children of catechetical groups from different parishes; groups of altar servers; students from Catholic universities who come to make retreats or some other type of programme; nursing students or professional nurses; parochial groups (Legion of Mary, Third Order of Franciscans, etc.) who come to follow a day's retreat or some other programme; groups of no-violent communication who carry out some of their programmes here; groups of postulants or novices following programmes of formation; children's and youth orchestral groups which follow seminars in preparation for concerts here; associations that follow several days of diet to promote  health and to fight obesity; reading seminars for children; seminars for support groups and unions of diverse types, and so on.  

The activities and the groups using our centre are truly very varied and of all sizes, from groups of just some 10 people to others of 150. The busiest months provide for groups during the schools vacations (December-January-February and July-August). During other months of the year, the activities diminish and tend to take place on the weekends (Thursday or Friday to Sunday). As the Centre has 3 floors and several large rooms for meetings, when the size of the groups allows it, several groups use the building simultaneously without any problem. This allows the approximate number of people who make use of the Centre in one year to reach around 7000. Each group is different, and there are also different programmes varying in duration, from 1 to 6 days. This entire activity is the responsibility of two Brothers, Timothy Song and Dámaso Jeon who not only welcome and assist, but on occasions, direct these groups. They also look after the cleaning and maintenance of the place. And when it is necessary, some other Brothers residing in Seoul help with the maintenance of the Centre. ______________  

Bro. Alfredo Herrera