About this place
The facility of the Missionary Society of St. Columban in Dongseon-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, is a formation and mission center distinct from the society’s general Korean headquarters. According to the society’s official information, the building at 12 Bomun-ro 34ga-gil houses the Columban seminary, the Lay Missionary Center, and the vocations office. Discernment and formation for priestly missionary vocations, preparation and accompaniment of lay missionaries, and promotion of the missionary calling are therefore linked within one place.
The Missionary Society of St. Columban is an international missionary community devoted to evangelization across national and cultural boundaries. In Korea, its long experience in parish ministry has broadened into work among the urban poor, labor ministry, counseling, rehabilitation for people with disabilities, ecological and justice concerns, and overseas lay mission. The Dongseon-dong center passes that tradition on to new generations of priests and lay missionaries. More than a residence, it is significant as a gateway through which the Korean Church sends and receives people in communion with the wider Church. The fact that both priestly and lay missionaries are prepared at the same site also reflects the Columban emphasis today on international collaboration and shared responsibility for mission.
History & origins
The Missionary Society of St. Columban was founded in Ireland in 1918 for mission in China, and its long relationship with the Church in Korea began when Columban priests arrived in 1933. In the early period, mission centered on establishing local churches and serving parishes, and Columbans participated in the growth of the Korean Church through ministry in several dioceses. Over time, mission came to be understood not simply as foreigners assisting a local Church but as a mutual exchange in which local Churches also send missionaries beyond their own borders.
This change became concrete after the Second Vatican Council. In 1982 the Columban General Assembly decided that vocations could also be accepted from countries where the society served. The Korean region responded by establishing the Columban seminary in 1985 and receiving its first Korean seminarians. Korean members subsequently passed through an international formation program, were ordained, and were sent to mission countries. The society’s official material states that the seminary has produced fifteen Korean Columban priests.
Mission in Korea also became more diverse during the same period. In the 1980s the apostolate expanded into work among the urban poor, labor ministry, counseling, studies of inculturation, and rehabilitation for people with disabilities. The first Korean lay missionary team, prepared from 1989, was sent to the Philippines in 1990. Today the seminary, Lay Missionary Center, and vocations office on Bomun-ro 34ga-gil bring these developments together in one place. The exact year when the formation and mission centers moved into the present building could not be established from reliable official web sources, so this history is limited to the verified development of the society and its formation programs. This development also reflects the wider transition of the Korean Church from primarily receiving missionaries to sending missionaries abroad. The formation institutions at the Dongseon-dong site sustain that transition by bringing together vocational discernment, theological formation, and preparation of lay missionaries.
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Building information
- Passenger elevators: 1
- 6 above-ground floors · 1 below-ground floors
- Approved for use in 2014
- Total floor area: 2,037㎡
Building-register record · · Source
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
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Official website: https://aos.catholic.or.kr
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