Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Seoul (Agenzia Fides) - In the midst of the pandemic and in spite of all the difficulties, the Archdiocese will "promote the vocation of the priest even more resolutely", with the confidence that God will always call new "workers for his vineyard": this is what Cardinal Andrea Yeom Soo-jung, Archbishop of Seoul, said, on the occasion of the ordination of twenty deacons of the Archdiocese of Seoul in Myeongdong Cathedral on February 5th. As Fides learned, the consecration service took place in strict compliance with the health guidelines with the wearing of masks and the necessary distance. Therefore, participation was limited to the parents of the candidates for ordination and parish priests of the new priests. All four auxiliary bishops of Seoul were also present at the celebration of the Eucharist.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Cardinal Yeom thanked God for making this ordination possible. Above all, he thanked the parents of the new priests and everyone who participated in their formation, the parish priests and nuns, teachers, spiritual guides, all the staff of the Seminary and the benefactors who contributed to the support with prayer and with material donations.
One of the twenty new priests is a member of the "Seoul International Catholic Missionary Society", a missionary society that was founded in 2005 by the Archdiocese of Seoul to send missionaries to Latin America. It is a concrete sign that the Church in Korea has transformed itself from a "receiving Church" to a "giving Church" that is ready to take a missionary and solidarity view abroad and thus ready for the "Missio ad Gentes".
Two of the new priests are from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of the Neocatechumenal Way, founded in Seoul in 2014. One of these is the Italian, Don Fabiano Rebeggiani, 39, from Rome, who was the first and only Italian to be formed and ordained a priest in Korea. Don Fabiano, before celebrating the first Mass in the Seminary, said he was very grateful to the Lord for the great privilege of serving as a priest in the Church in Korea". His parents, who had traveled from Rome to attend the rite of their son's ordination, thanked the Church of Korea and Cardinal Andrea Yeom deeply for the benevolent support of their son during his years of education in Korea. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 9/2/2021)
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