By the Korea-Chinese Province of the Society of the Sacred Heart
The friendship between Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ and the Society of the Sacred Heart in Korea began in the 1970s. In August 1977, Fr Nicolás came to Songsim (Sacred Heart) College for Women in Chuncheon together with Fr E Gerlach MM from the Philippines to conduct a workshop on social analysis. When solidarity with the third world and preferential option for the poor were the emergent new concerns in the Church, the workshop focusing on observation, analysis, and decision-making regarding social issues was a fresh and eye-opening challenge for all participants. In the 1980s when Fr Nicolás stayed at the Jesuit community in Seoul, he visited us off and on and celebrated Mass for the community. But, above all, what stands out in our memory is the time when Fr Nicolás helped us greatly in our communal discernment on the College ministry.
The communal discernment of the Korea District[1] of the Society of the Sacred Heart took place at the retreat house of the Congregation of Jesus at Oryudong, Seoul, from 30 June to 2 July 1988. At the time, with the momentum of the democratisation movement of the country which succeeded in obtaining the direct election of the president in 1987, the attention of the students was turned to the internal issues of the universities. At Songsim College for Women, students and faculty joined forces to demand a masterplan for turning the College into a university. Coincidentally, a possibility of merger of Songsim College for Women and Catholic College run by the Archdiocese of Seoul was being considered behind the doors. The rumour concerning this possible merger was leaked to the alumni and students, which caused a massive opposition to the move to become the key issue of the student demonstrations and sit-in strikes. After a series of hearings and demonstrations, the Society was obliged to seek concerted ways to respond to the demands of the College community.
Fr Nicolás helped us in our communal discernment process as a resource person and facilitator. He guided us from the preparation stage, giving talks on communal discernment, identifying the purpose and the issues, and clarifying the steps for reflection and sharing. For us, the RSCJs in Korea, it was a precious opportunity for ongoing formation, to learn together the basic principles of communal discernment while practising each stage of reflection and sharing in common. Among the 32 sisters who participated in the meeting, only seven were working full-time at the College. But we considered the College as a major corporate ministry, and all of us had been informed of the current situation and key issues of the College. The preparation committee had formulated the concrete steps we might take in response to the demands of the College community. We were guided to express frankly our feelings and opinions regarding the issues and the ways to respond, and, at the same time, to listen to the words of others attentively until the end with openness. After periods of prayer and reflection, we were invited to notice the interior movements, searching for points of agreement, and identifying possible amendments to our common response. In all these steps, Fr Nicolás served as an excellent resource person, a trusted and supportive advisor to all of us, and a reflector with an objective viewpoint mirroring the diverse movements of the participants.
Through this discernment process, we could dream of the future of Songsim College for Women with a unified mind and a willing heart, open and ready to welcome diverse changes in the years to come. Considering our lack of personnel and financial realism, we came to see clearly that expanding the College to a full-scale university was beyond our means and capacity. At the same time, we affirmed our desire to continue to send RSCJs who are prepared and willing to serve in the college/university ministry, in teaching and research, pastoral ministry, and administration. In reality, six years later, Songsim College for Women did merge with Catholic College to become the Catholic University of Korea. During those six years, we came to accept our limitations, adjusted realistically the degree of our commitment to the College ministry, and prepared to accept and implement the necessary changes. As time passed, students, professors, staff, and alumni came to view the changes in a different light and to accept the merger as a viable option for development as a Catholic university.
Our prayerful work of discernment under the direction of Fr Nicolás was a communal experience of grace, a most precious one through which we could recognise and learn the wisdom of communal discernment as a positive factor on our common journey. This experience was a remarkable turning point for bringing about significant institutional changes in our ministry. In the history of the Society in Korea, it became a treasure to be cherished in our collective memory. Thus we are ever grateful to Fr Nicolás for guiding us on this journey.
[1] In 1988, the RSCJ communities in Korea were not yet a province, but a district. We became Korea Province in 1991. In 2011 the RSCJ communities in Korea and Taiwan merged to become Korea-Chinese Province.
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