The Passionists in Korea: Historical Musings
by Brother Laurence M. Finn, C.P.
Brother Larry Finn, C.P. has a world vision. Born in 1948 in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada, he professed his first Passionist vows as member of Holy Cross Province (Chicago, Illinois) in 1968. He professed his final vows in 1971. I first met him in the late 1980s while I was doing doctoral research in Rome, Italy. He showed me around the city and countryside. In recent years I have been impressed by his care and compassion for the Catholic Church in China. He has taught me that wisdom in international relations means knowing the correct questions to ask at the correct time. Through his initiative I was able to go to Korea in 2002 to be the keynote speaker at the Korea Provincial Chapter. As this essay shows, Larry Finn, C.P. has a keen love for Korea. I asked him to share his spirit of the overseas missions so as to celebrate this centennial year of jubilee in Holy Cross Province. He resides at the Passionist Community. 413-161 Tonam-dong, Sonbuk-gu Seoul 136-060 Korea. His email is Lmfinn@kornet.net -editor
The first time I ever consciously heard of Korea was in 1964. It had been announced that the Province of the Holy Cross, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois was to send a small group of men to Korea at the request of one of the Bishops of that country.
At that time I was just 16 years of age, having entered the Passionist Preparatory Seminary the year before. After this announcement, I met the future superior of the undertaking, Father Raymond McDonough, C.P. in Warrenton, Missouri, where the Passionist Preparatory School was located. He had just traveled by train from Los Angeles, California with a group of seminarians, acting as their chaplain during the two or three day journey. I remember meeting him in the sacristy after the morning Mass. I mention this, because this was a rather pivotal meeting for me, though I was totally unaware of it at the moment. As the years passed, Father Raymond would frequently write letters to the Province-which were faithfully posted on the bulletin board in the school. I always read them with great attention, admiring his ability to put so well his first impressions in a land so very far away from the Missouri fields I found myself in.
As the years passed, I found myself continuing with my formation as a Passionist religious in Detroit, Michigan and then for a period of seven or eight years in Louisville, Kentucky as a religious in vows. These letters from Korea kept being put on the bulletin board-and I continued to ignore their implications for myself personally, but still admired Father Raymond's ability to communicate so well through the written word.
At the suggestion of my director, Father Michael Brophy, C.P. during the months of September and October 1972, I was asked to seriously think about the future-and the possibilities that Divine Providence may have in store for me. This was a time of discernment-a time to put together all of the threads that were slowly becoming the tapestry of my life. I spent extra time in prayer and meditation in the Chapel. Never has prayer been more arid for me; never have I had such difficulties trying to connect with the Lord living within my heart. At the end of the period assigned for discernment, on Tuesday, October 31, 1972 in a moment of great frustration with myself and this whole process, I remembered the letters that Father Raymond had been writing to our Province for the past eight years. These letters were always informative, always well written, and always filled with great faith and hope for the future. With this memory, I found myself at great peace and knew that my life would be lived in a far distant place.
Obviously, a moment of inspiration could easily be illusory as well as it can be a Divine prompting. Submitting my experience in writing to the Provincial Paul M. Boyle, C.P. in Chicago, and requesting to be allowed to go to Korea as a Passionist was just the first step to further discernment, or testing of the Spirit. By Christmas of 1972, the fledgling vicariate in Korea and the Passionist Provincial Council in Chicago approved my request to become a missionary in Korea. After completing all of the requirements for this next step, another two and half years were to pass before I actually was to step on Korean soil, but the decision had been made, and I began to steer the course of my life in that direction.
The final two years before departing America for Korea were filled with courses in theology, philosophy, history and cultural studies. I took fascinating courses in Buddhism and comparative religion that stretched my mind and forced me to take very seriously the implications of this new life unfolding before me. To be honest, it was great fun. Things I had only briefly considered before were becoming the staples of my life. Most of these courses were taken at the two local Catholic Universities in Louisville-the others at the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington.
Finally, after a three-week journey across the wide Pacific by container ship, I arrived in the port city of Pusan, Korea on August 1, 1975. The first launch out to our ship was a small wooden boat, and at the helm stood Raymond McDonough, pipe in hand, and waving to the latest addition to his charges in this then mysterious land. My life in Korea had begun.
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