The Province specifically emphasised that this is one of the areas where greater commitment will be required in the next six years. The fact that the Rector Major for the first time in the 70 years of the Province's life recommended a pastoral response to the needs of migrant workers shows how much the South Korean social environment has changed. And this response came, specifically, on 22 January 2025.
On this date, at 10 a.m., a community for migrant workers was opened in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi-do Province. It is a temporary home, located in building 1101 of the O2 Grande Apartments, Hyangnam-eup. Here, for the next two or three years, three Salesians will live and operate under the temporary name ‘Don Bosco Migrant Workers Centre’. This house, which is in the nature of an international community, will have its first members: the Rector, Fr Mark Kim Pyungan, the Bursar, Fr Benedict Kim, and Fr Olivio from Timor-Leste.
‘When you walk in a snow-covered field, you must not walk carelessly, because the steps you take today will surely become a guide for those who will follow you. I believe that this famous quotation is a good inspiration for this community that begins today,' with these words, delivered during the homily, Fr Marcellus Baek Kwanghyun, Provincial of South Korea, urged the newly established community to properly set up its pastoral direction and to respond adequately to the needs of migrants, collaborating with the local Church.
Fr Francis Javier Cho Young-Jun, from the parish in Hwaseong city, Suwon diocese, also expressed joy at this new project and outlined his expectations for the future. ‘I sincerely congratulate and welcome the opening of the Salesian community in our city of Hwaseong, which has a large number of immigrants,’ he said. ‘Just as Don Bosco dedicated himself to poor youth, so now the Salesians will help the poor here. Most of the immigrants in our city work all day and consequently there is little time left to care for their children. There are areas where our Church is not able to respond to their needs, and I hope that the Salesians will take on this role with the skills that distinguish them,’ he said.
‘We want to become a community that responds in the right way to the Church and society and that can meet the expectations of the Province,’ said Fr Mark Kim Pyungan.
The hope is that this new community dedicated to migrants will take root well in Hwaseong and be a living witness to the Gospel for migrant workers and their children, who today are the poorest of the poor.
