Seoul (AsiaNews/Ucan) -- More than 170 priests of the Archdiocese of Seoul have chosen to carry out their ministry in Uijongbu, a diocese on the border with North Korea.  Uijongbu diocese, erected last July 5 and led by Bishop Joseph Lee Hantaek is the country's poorest: it covers six cities and two counties in the northern part of Gyeonggi province, with 52 parishes home to 160,000 Catholics.

After the new diocese's creation, Metropolitan Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul and the new local ordinary, Bishop Lee, told the 747 archdiocesan priests that they could choose in which diocese they wanted to serve: 172 of them, mostly young, chose Uijongbu.  Before the creation of the new diocese, about 80 priests served in the area.  The average age of the new diocese's clergy is very low: 36.7 years.

A thanksgiving Mass was celebrated recently to mark the creation of the new episcopal see.  On that occasion, Bishop Lee thanked the priests who decided to commit themselves to Uijongbu.  "High-spirited and hopeful, the young priests joining Uijongbu diocese can bring hope and change to this isolated and undeveloped area and its parishioners. I thank the priests for applying despite the poor conditions of our diocese.  Their committment reminds us of our missionary vocation."  Msgr Lee thanked the Church of Seoul for its generosity in giving up its priests in favour of a poorer Church: "With the loss of 172 priests, Seoul archdiocese will face difficulties in ministering to the greatest archdiocese in Asia. However, Archbishop Cheong sent the priests with generosity and I am grateful." Taking part in the celebration, the emeritus archbishop of Seoul, Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan highlighted how "having little is a cherishable experience. The early Christian communities had only the Holy Spirit, and they grew, overcoming hardships with martyrdom."  The creation of Uijongbu diocese fell on the feast day of the Korean martyr Andrei Kim.

"I wanted to serve poor people as a priest. Parishioners in Uijongbu are poorer and have more difficulties than in Seoul. That's why lots of priests applied for Uijongbu diocese," said Father Peter Ryu Dal-hyon, one of the priests who will go to Uijongbu.  In explaining his choice to serve in the new diocese, another priest, Fr John Choi Jae-young said: "I just like to be in the countryside, so this was a good chance to be with rural parishioners."

Uijongbu diocese is in a mainly rural area and, bordering with the North, is home to numerous military camps, a condition which hinders development in the area.

The priests of Uijongbu are currently meeting together and are to be assigned on Saturday to their respective posts which they will take up in mid-October.

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