On the eve of Military Missions Sunday, October 3, Bishop Titus Seo Sang-bum appealed to the clergy, religious and faithful to continue the Church’s mission of comforting and caring Korean soldiers.

“The mission of evangelizing and healing cannot be abandoned even in the midst of hardships such as Covid-19,” said Bishop Titus, head of Korea’s military ordinariate.

The prelate stressed that the cooperation between the parishes of the military diocese and the civilian dioceses is absolutely essential for a successful mission, reports Korean Catholic Times

The military mission has always been dear to the heart of Father Seong Se-hyun, a former military chaplain.

Father Seong, a priest from the Uijeongbu Diocese, served in the military ministry from July 2013 to June last year. Although he has been dismissed from his post, he remains passionate about serving current and veteran soldiers.

Currently Deputy Director of the Youth Ministry of Uijeongbu Diocese, Father Seong participated in a recent survey of Korean soldiers that sought to identify the state of their personal and religious lives and the challenges they face.

This optimistic figure is a reason to encourage a ministry that has served military personnel for more than seven decades.

The purpose of the survey was to determine the spiritual and pastoral needs of the soldiers in order to determine the areas on which the military mission must focus to effectively serve the soldiers and their families.

“Only 14 respondents said they attended church regularly and would continue to lead a religious life in the future,” Father Seong said, adding that the survey results show that the Church must revitalize its efforts to reach out to soldiers who apparently have no intention of leading a religious life.

However, the priest pointed out a different scenario in his diocese where more young people who have performed compulsory military service are more attracted to religious life.

“About 14% of our new believers are young people who have done their military service and have returned home. The number is increasing every year, ”said Father Seong.

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This optimistic figure is a reason to encourage a ministry that has served military personnel for more than seven decades.

American missionary Maryknoll, Monsignor George Carroll, created the Military Chaplain Corps on February 1, 1951, during the Korean War (1950-53). The Korean Catholic Bishops‘ Conference (CBCK) formally authorized the ministry in 1961.

On October 23, 1989, he was elevated to the Korean Military Ordinariate, known as Gunjong in South Korea. It does not belong to any ecclesiastical province but covers all Catholic soldiers and their families. It has 95 parishes and 166 mission stations with 100 priests.

According to South Korean law, all young men must complete 24 months of military service. The military chaplain priests celebrate Mass, advise and accompany the soldiers to provide them with religious and moral education.

Priests baptized thousands of soldiers and the ministry is described as a “golden fishing pond” for evangelism.

In 2008, the Catholic population of the Korean Military Ordinariate was 79,769.

South Korea has 6.7 million military personnel including 600,000 active forces, 3.1 million reserve forces and 3 million paramilitary forces, according to Global Firepower.

The Korean Church observes the first Sunday in October as Military Mission Sunday, when church leaders urge Catholics to help through prayer, donations, twinning other parishes with military parishes and more great participation of nuns in the military mission.

It is feared that a significant portion of those baptized during their military service may no longer be faithful to the practice.

The future of the Korean Church will be brighter if we can support the faith of young believers born into military service

Father Seong said it was unfortunate that young people baptized while serving in the military did not continue their life of faith after being demobilized, which means the Church must take additional steps to keep the faith of young believers.

“Young people who learned about the faith in the military didn’t know how to keep that faith after being demobilized. Reaching them and offering them better pastoral care is no longer an option but a necessity. The future of the Korean Church will be brighter if we can support the faith of young believers born into military service, ”he said.

An important step in the right direction is the transfer of the digital religious archives of former servicemen of military parishes to the civil parishes to which the young faithful belong, the priest said.

According to data from the Education Office of the Military Ordinariate, the religious records of 10,970 former military personnel have been transferred in recent years.

Father Choi Min-sung, head of the office, said the transfer of the registers allows the parishes of the soldiers to get in touch with them and help them resume their religious life as well as receive the sacraments of confirmation and marriage. .

“Parish priests need to start pastoring ex-servicemen like Father Seong. They can do it themselves with the support of the bishop of the civil diocese, ”said Fr Choi.

Father Yoon Won-seok, director of public relations for the Military Ordinariate, agreed.

“We can hope that other parishes will successfully replicate what Father Seong did and provide pastoral care to military veterans, and thus the military ministry will be revitalized,” said the priest.

Meanwhile, Father Seong says he will conduct a study on the faith life of military veterans in the first semester of next year. He hopes to publish a full report by then.

The study has two objectives: to organize a catechism training for military veterans in the parishes by putting them in touch with groups of students and young people, and to share the results with all the dioceses to encourage them to offer pastoral care. military veterans.

“My goal is to make a good field so that the fallen seeds can bear 100 times more fruit,” said Father Seong.

This article uses material from a report published by the Catholic Times of Korea on October 3.

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