From Sunday, July 14 to Thursday, July 18, International Vice Director Fr. Cristóbal Fones SJ (Rome) and Continental Coordinator Fr. Alberto Irenus SJ (Malaysia) were in the city of Seoul to share fruitful moments and valuable experiences with members of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer in South Korea and to participate in the Assembly of Jesuit Major Superiors of the Asia Pacific Conference.
Members of the youth community and the team led by the National Coordinator, Fr. Woo-bae Sohn SJ, received this visit with great enthusiasm and affection. They shared various moments of learning more about how they live out the mission in their homeland and to celebrate together the journey they have made. They were also able to visit, in the context of the 350th Jubilee, the monastery of the Visitation Order, a few kilometers away from the border with North Korea, praying for peace and connecting them to the spiritual foundation of the mission in the devotion to the Heart of Jesus.
On the other hand, the presentation of the Pope’s Prayer Network to the Jesuit Provincials of the Asia Pacific continent by Fr Cristobal, gave an overview of the presence of concrete groups and communities in the countries of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor, the Philippines, Australia and the islands of Micronesia. He also mentioned the participation of Jesuits and lay people in the translation of the international projects Click To Pray and The Pope Video into various local languages, including Burmese in Myanmar.
These meetings had shown that collaborative work had already been initiated and hope that it will continue to be a boost to the mission that is carried out with so much dedication in these countries where Christianity is a minority. During these days, Fr Cristóbal and Fr Alberto also took the opportunity to begin preparations for the Continental Meeting of National Coordinators and Directors in the city of Chiang Mai (Thailand) in May next year.
