Ordination to the Diaconate of Two Korean Students

Yesterday was a big day in the seminary, especially for two young Korean men who were ordained as deacons to serve in Panama. These two men, known with Spanish names (Agustin and Pedro) here, are members of a Korean missionary congregation which has sent men to many parts of the world. Unlike Irish missionaries in former times who went abroad after ordination, these men are sent to the area in which they will be working for their formation and studies.

This system has a lot of advantages in that it means that they have a reasonable grasp of the local culture and are familiar with the local church that they are joining before they are ordained. At least, that is the hope. The two men ordained yesterday had a very difficult time with the language which made integrating a real challenge. Pedro made more progress with the language than Agustin but neither of them is entirely confident - hopefully, this will come with time.

Agustin is a past pupil of mine from the seminary here and I know from experience that his inability to speak Spanish severely limited his possibilities for participating in the classroom and for studying. Texts had to be sought out in Korea and, as none of the seminary staff speak Korean, there was no way of knowing what the Korean texts were like. I suppose it is really a question of everyone having done as much as they can - but it was a real challenge for all concerned.

They were ordained by the Archbishop of Panama City, Mons. Jose Domingo Ulloa, who is an Augustinian. During the homily (quite short for here, at 25 minutes) he spoke of the challenges that both had faced during their formation and of the fact that they would now face more challenges as they take up their roles in parish life.

Agustin's parents travelled for the ordination, Pedro's were unable to do so. In the photos below you can see the most beautiful traditional outfit that Agustin's mother wore to the celebration. Unfortunately, they couldn't understand  word of what was going on but the fact that it was televised by a local religious TV channel will mean that they can get the recording and have things explained to them.

There is a Korean parish here and many people came from there and from the parishes that the two young men had worked in over their years as seminarians. It was a lovely celebration, quite simple really: and even though it took over 2 hours at the hottest part of the day, the air conditioning in the seminary chapel made it quite bearable.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all - the feast is not celebrated here but I hope to meet up with some of my ex-students for something to eat to mark the occasion.