(ANS – Daejeon)– Almost all the Salesians from Korea were at the 2014 Province Days celebrated at the Salesian Youth Centre in Daejeon, last weekend. The community celebrated the gift of vocation and renewed commitment in the Bicentenary Year of Don Bosco, in following the examplle of the Founder working with young people in need.

The day began with a prayer session which, through a powerpoint presentation, focused on the message which Pope Francis had given to the country during his apostolic visit in August. In this the most urgent challenges facing the Church and Religious in Korea were identifed.

Then there was a conference by the layman Dr. Joseph Kim, an expert in Liberation Theology and author of several books including the best seller “The Pope and I”. Dr. Kim maintained that the Church needed to pay more attention to society and to the fringes, coming out of itself and becoming firmly committed to a reformation on behalf of the poor. In a question and answer session he also emphasised that unless the Church is critical of the errors of political power it will lose its Christian identity, forgetting that Christ was always on the side of the poorest ones. Before concluding he expressed the hope that the Salesians really would be mystics and prophetic signs in the Church.

Another topic that was considered was that of the “anticipated statement regarding treatment” in the case of being in a vegetative state. Leading this discussion were two Catholic lay experts, Ibo Choi, a Salesian Cooperator, and a lawyer specialising in this field and Dr Chiara Kim, a university lecturer.

As usual, the days continued until the evening with a celebration “of sharing and fraternity” in the community, with special reference to the Salesians who this year were keeping signifcant anniversaries of ordination or profession. For the occasion they spoke about their vocation story and their dedication to poor young people, with all renewing their commitment to celebrate the Bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth by living the Salesian charism with new zeal.

Published 16/09/2015