Seminar for Perpetually Professed Salesians in Korea

Written by KOR SocCom

Seoul, Korea, 19 May 2025 -- "It has now been a month since the conclusion of the 29th General Chapter. The emotion of the moments when we sought concrete ways to live out our passion for God and dedication to the youth with our new Rector Major and the entire Salesian Family is still vivid in my heart. We have quickly arranged this meeting to promptly share this with our confreres." This was the greeting from Provincial Fr. Marcello Baek Kwang-hyun at the start of the seminar for perpetually professed confreres.

A total of 83 perpetually professed Salesians in Korea gathered at the Salesian Education Center in Jeongnim-dong, Daejeon for the seminar, which was held in two sessions over two days. Unlike previous years where all confreres gathered at once, this year’s meetings were split between May 16–17 and May 17–18, due to the difficulty of arranging a single gathering for everyone in a timely manner.

The primary purpose of the seminar was to transmit the contents of the 29th General Chapter. Although the official documents of the Chapter have not yet been published, summary documents were brought back by the participants and quickly translated into Korean by the SC team and shared with the confreres. The seminar was structured around the delivery of the three key areas (Core Areas 1–3) of the Chapter. From our province, Fr. Baek Kwang-hyun (Provincial), Fr. Peter Kim Sang-yoon (Delegate), and Fr. Timothy Choi Won-cheol (Observer) participated, each responsible for presenting one core area.

Fr. Timothy Choi Won-cheol, who covered Core Area 1, emphasized the significance of the site of Valdocco where the Chapter was held. He introduced the newly adopted methodology of "dialog in the Holy Spirit" used during the Chapter. He stressed the need to place the Eucharist at the center of community life in order to draw strength for a Christ-centered consecrated life, to avoid the risks of activism, and to embody the grace of unity. He highlighted the importance of the role of the rector in fostering a community bound in fraternity, which naturally turns its attention to the poor. In terms of formation, he emphasized the absolute necessity of personal accompaniment and corrected the misunderstanding that formation ends with initial formation. He presented the idea of "formation within the mission" as a carefully developed concept from the 29th General Chapter.

Fr. Peter Kim Sang-yoon, who presented Core Area 2, transmitted the atmosphere of the Chapter with dozens of photographs. He shared that there was extensive discussion about implementing the Educative and Pastoral Community (CEP), and reaffirmed the importance of sharing spirituality and mission with lay people. He noted that many provinces, including ours, still seem to lack a clear understanding of the relationship between the community council and the CEP council.

Fr. Baek Kwang-hyun introduced Core Area 3. He mentioned the spirit of synodality that permeated the entire Chapter, and once again highlighted the effectiveness of "dialog in the Holy Spirit." He asserted that passion and dedication were not merely titles but guiding principles of the Chapter. Reflecting on the elections of the Rector Major and General Councilors, he stated that the participants paid close attention to who had most faithfully lived a life of passion and dedication over the past six years, and that those so recognized were elected with the support of confreres following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He also explained the nine amendments of the Constitution and Regulation and the fourteen resolutions adopted during the Chapter.

As in previous years, the seminar included a lecture by Vice Provincial Fr. Bonaventure Kim Sun-oh. The confreres collectively reviewed and studied the province’s pastoral code of ethics, with special attention to the province's guidelines for the protection of minors. Each confrere signed a commitment to these guidelines.

The testimonies from those who attended the General Chapter vividly transmitted the spirit of the Chapter to the confreres. It is hoped that over the next six years, passion for Christ and dedication to the young will be fully realized in each confrere, in each community, and throughout the entire province.

---

---