The Columban Sisters’ mission in Korea began with an invitation from Archbishop Harold Henry of Gwangju Archdiocese. He was saw the need for urgent medical aid to help Koreans suffering the after-effects of the Korean War. These included poverty, malnutrition and disease, especially tuberculosis. In January 1955, four Colomban Sisters arrived in Korea. It is said that the Sisters were able to overcome the difficult initial journey into an unfamiliar culture and environment thanks to the words of St. Paul: “There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
The Sisters began in Mokpo by making home visits and starting a small clinic which gradually developed into a general hospital equipped with doctors, nurses, laboratory staff and X-ray technicians. Known as Holy Spirit Nursing School, it is now Mokpo Catholic University Hospital. Soon after their arrival in Mokpo, two Columban Sisters were invited by Bishop Thomas Quinlan to minister in Chuncheon close to North Korea which was home to many refugees who escaped to South Korea after the Korean War. Medical treatment and home visits to villages were once again important pastoral tasks for the Sisters. In 1989, the clinic in Chuncheon began a hospice home visiting service for the dying and for patients with serious illnesses. This led to the opening in 2004 of the St. Columban Home for the Elderly. In 1962, St. Joseph’s Clinic was opened in Samcheok, Gangwon Province to provide medical care to residents in need of medical help in the east coast region. Then, in 1991, a nursing home called ‘Fatima House’ was opened in Sokcho for the elderly, especially those who had escaped from North Korea and had no family members in the South.
By the 1960s, the Columban Sisters had also advanced to Jeju Island at the invitation of Columban Fr. PJ McGlinchey (founder of Isidore Ranch). A large number of Jeju’s population had died due to the 3rd April 1948-13th May 1949 Jeju Uprising and many women left for the mainland in search of work. Fr. PJ created the Hallim Handweaver programme and invited the Columban Sisters to take responsibility for it. The Sisters made yarn from wool, dyed the yarn, and weaved patterns, specialising in the Irish Aran pattern and turning it into what became a very popular product. Knitting for this was also taught to disabled people so that they could work on the craft at home. By opening a sales channel to sell sweaters, socks and blankets, jobs were created for women and the disabled. St. Isidore Clinic was opened in Hallim in 1970 as well as the Isidore Nursing Home.
In later years, the Columban Sisters also opened the ‘House of Our Lady’ in Mokpo for single mothers and woman suffering from domestic violence. In preparation for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Korean government carried out a large-scale urban development project which resulted in many people being evicted from their homes. The Columban Sisters opened a community in this area and offered assistance to the local residents. They also offered support in other areas where people had come from the provinces to work in industrial complexes in Seoul. And in Yeoju’s Ansam-ri Community, they lived together with residents in a rural area, working together with them to farm organically.
From the late 1980s to 2020, as Korea experienced significant economic growth, legal requirements were strengthened. Gradually, many of the medical and educational institutions initiated by the Sisters were transferred to dioceses or closed. But some continue today.
In Miari, Seoul, ‘Samaritan House’ began as a service to women living in a red light area. Later, this was developed into both a women’s community and a men’s community for those with AIDS and it continues to respond to these needs today. The Community of Life programme in Mokpo offers professional services to those with learning and other disabilities through the services of group homes, a nursery, and welfare centres. Sisters today are also working in the Diocesan Migrant Worker Centre and offer counselling at the Gangwon National University Student Counseling Centre. We also conduct youth retreats and individual or small group retreats and, together with local people, participate in activities related to ecology, justice, and peace.
As I look back on the Columban Sisters’ mission in Korea, I remember something that was said in the 1950s and 1960s when Sisters passed by. Mothers would push their children forward, point to the Sisters and say, “There goes God (a person who resembles God). Go and say hello.” I think about the dedication of the Columban Sisters who lived so that we could discover the image of God.
This year, we Columban Sisters celebrate our 100th anniversary. Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of our arrival in Korea. Currently we have about 20 Korean Columban Sisters active in their own country and overseas in Myanmar, the Philippines, Pakistan, and China. We are very grateful for the love we have received from God over the past 100 years and we continue to discern, reflect, and try to live as best as we have done for the past 100 years. Speaking about mission, our co-founder, Fr. John Blowick said: “The work is God’s not yours or mine. We happen to be the instruments – God is behind the whole thing and He will see it through.”
