The Catholic Pastoral Institute of Korea (CPIK, Director: Most Rev. Peter Kang U-il) held “Priests’ workshop for developing SCCs of Korea” at the auditorium of the Catholic Conference of Korea in Seoul from June 17 to 19, 2013.

The CPIK prepared this workshop as one of its efforts to present a concrete model for SCCs (Small Christian Communities) of the Church in Korea, pointing out the facts that the movement of SCCs has not been well accepted in the pastoral fields and that the revitalization of SCCs is in desperate need on the diocesan level.

This workshop was an occasion to objectively look at the problems and limitations of the pastoral care of SCCs in the Catholic Church in Korea, with discussion on its concrete possibilities and visions. Especially, for this workshop, CPIK invited the diocesan priests who have studied and practiced the pastoral care of SCCs in their dioceses. 23 priests from 9 dioceses participated in this workshop, exchanged their opinions and discussed the pastoral care of SCCs more profoundly, with themes, such as ‘Pastoral vision, challenges and SCCs’, ‘What is SCCs-centered Pastoral Care?’, and ‘Is it possible to realize the pastoral care of SCCs in the Church in Korea?’.

Rev. Francis Kang Sin-mo (Director of Mission Ministry Department in the Diocese of Uijeongbu), in his keynote presentation regarding pastoral vision and challenges, said that “In order to fully promote the movement of the SCCs in the Church in Korea, there should be first a deep reflection on the necessity for pastoral vision, with the sharing of opinions” and “first of all it is necessary for diocesan priests to prepare meetings with the diocesan Bishop for reflecting on the pastoral vision”.

Rev. Bartholomew Jun Won (Pastor of Jekidong Parish, Seoul) said in his presentation that “the question of ‘Is it possible to realize the pastoral care of SCCs in the Church in Korea?’ sounds like an appeal for changing the paradigm of the Church in Korea, turning away from long-established clericalism and secularism.” He stressed that “we should consider the SCCs not as a solution that brings us some pastoral effectiveness, but as a pastoral vision for the local Church which realizes the spirit of the Second Vatican Council” and “when the Church has a clear awareness of a pastoral vision for the way to go, the pastors can share the same direction and go forward with it together, although their respective capacity and approaches are different from each other.”