Columban Fr Noel O’Neill in the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday. - Photo: Fr Donal O'Keeffe
JUNE 2025 IN KOREA
On June 3, 2025, South Korea elected a new president, Lee Jae-Myung, marking the end of six months of political turmoil and uncertainty. The election followed the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-Yeol for attempting to stage a military coup last December. While the coup failed, it triggered six months of instability as the country went through the process of impeaching Yoon and removing him from power.
Lee Jae-Myung represents a new vision for South Korea. His first major address on National Memorial Day (June 6), laid out a vision of inclusivism for the future, embracing all those who have sacrificed themselves for the country and extending the hand of peace to North Korea. It was a total contrast to the constant mantra of the former president, whose favourite themes were “the threat within the country” from “anti-state forces” and the “outside threat from North Korea”. It is a sign of a new beginning that will hopefully bear fruit!
In the Columban world in South Korea, we woke up on Sunday June 1, 2025, to the news that Columban Fr Noel O’Neill had died in Ireland. Fr Noel, ordained in 1956, worked in South Korea from 1957 to 2024. In the early 1980s, he established the Emmaus Welfare Foundation in Gwangju. The organisation focuses on the dignity, rights, and inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities, promoting a model of care that emphasises community integration rather than institutionalisation. Through his leadership, Emmaus established group homes, sheltered workshops, and education centres, empowering people with disabilities to live fuller, more independent lives.
Fr Noel significantly influenced how Korean society views and treats people with disabilities. South Korea has recognised his work through numerous national awards, as well as South Korean citizenship. At 93, he was one of the last surviving members of that generation of Columbans who came to South Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War. Fr Noel’s death truly marked the end of an era for the Columbans in South Korea.
Columban Fr Noel O’Neill participates in an activity with friends. - Photo: Fr Donal O'Keeffe
And yet, as one era ends, another begins. On June 7, 2025, Korean Columban Lee Jongrak Verano was ordained a Columban priest in his home parish in the Daegu Archdiocese. On that day, Columban sisters, priests, lay missionaries, benefactors, and friends all converged on Verano’s home parish and joined the local parishioners in celebrating his ordination.
It was a festive atmosphere for both the ordination on Saturday and the Thanksgiving Mass on Sunday, Pentecost Sunday. The joy and excitement of the community were palpable. The parish yard was covered with huge tents, where food was served to everyone on both days.
At the ordination ceremony, Fr Augustine Lee Je-hoon, the Coordinator of the Columban Mission in Myanmar, welcomed Fr Verano to the Mission, presenting him with a traditional Kachin hat and bag.
Fr Verano will join the small group of Columbans in Myitkyina Diocese, in the north of the country, who are accompanying the Kachin people at this difficult time in their history. Since the coup d’etat of 2021, Myanmar has continued to suffer the brutal effects of civil war.
The first week of June in South Korea was indeed a time when the country and the Columbans serving there experienced the full spectrum of emotions, ranging from mourning to joy, from uncertainty to hope. It was a time when we had a very concrete experience of Pentecost, of the Spirit continuing to work among us!
Columban Fr Donal O'Keeffe lives and works in Korea.
Listen to "Beginnings and Endings"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - August 2025
