Cooperation in Mission

The Scarboro community welcomes members of other mission institutes while they are in Canada to study English.

By Fr. Jack Lynch, S.F.M.
February/March 2004

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In the last few years we have been welcoming members from other mission institutes here at Scarboro Missions. They come to Canada to study English as part of their formation in preparation for their mission placement. It has been a joy to receive these young men. It gives us new life and broadens our horizons to appreciate the diversity of the universal Church and the dynamism of those who participate in mission.

Outside Scarboro's central house, standing L-R: Fr. Jack Lynch, Superior General of Scarboro Missions with Fr. Yu Sung Lee, Fr. Hyo Jun Kwon, and in front L-R, Fr. Kwang Kee Park and Fr. Ji Hoon Kim. All four priests are members of the Korean Missionary Society.

Outside Scarboro's central house, standing L-R: Fr. Jack Lynch, Superior General of Scarboro Missions with Fr. Yu Sung Lee, Fr. Hyo Jun Kwon, and in front L-R, Fr. Kwang Kee Park and Fr. Ji Hoon Kim. All four priests are members of the Korean Missionary Society.

At present, we have nine young men in residence with us at Scarboro. Four are newly ordained priests from the Korean Missionary Society: Ji Hoon, Yu Sung, Hyo Jun, and Kwang Kee, who will be with us for a year of study. Gregorio is a young priest from the Guadalupe Missionaries of Mexico who has just finished his work as a promoter of priestly vocations for his community and is now preparing for mission in Hong Kong. Recently arrived are Wilian Gerardo, John Albey, Jose Ivan and Juan Ruiz, four seminarians from the Yarumal Missionaries of Colombia. They have completed their theology studies and are continuing their formation with us. Two will go to Ethiopia and two to Cambodia.

Later this year we will welcome Fr. Emmanuel Mbam of the Missionaries of St. Paul of Nigeria who will live at Scarboro for two years and do post-graduate studies in theology. Scarboro is helping in the preparation of Fr. Emmanuel who will return to Nigeria as part of the formation team at the seminary of the Missionaries of St. Paul.

In the past few years, we have received missioners from other mission-sending Societies and we expect to continue the program as part of a cooperative effort in mission. Others who have been with us are presently serving in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines and Siberia.

Korean Mission Society members Fr. Hyo Jun and Fr. Ji Hoon, with Scarboro lay missioner Louise Malnachuk, a member of Scarboro's China mission team and now home on leave.

Korean Mission Society members Fr. Hyo Jun and Fr. Ji Hoon, with Scarboro lay missioner Louise Malnachuk, a member of Scarboro's China mission team and now home on leave.

It is important that our benefactors know that along with contributing to the ongoing formation of Scarboro missionaries, they also contribute to the formation of priests and seminarians from other mission institutes. As always we are most grateful to our benefactors for their faithful support of mission.

While cooperation among religious orders and mission societies is very common in our local mission efforts in the countries where we work, there is also cooperation at another level. Scarboro Missions participates in a grouping of Roman Catholic Missionary Institutes similar to Scarboro, which we call MISAL (Missionary Societies of Apostolic Life).

The Societies represented in MISAL have a combined total of 7,500 priests working in mission throughout the world. For a smaller Society like Scarboro, there is an obvious richness in any meeting or cooperation among such a wealth of personnel and experience. We consider ourselves very fortunate to participate in what is really an ongoing dialogue about mission, our understanding of the mission of Jesus and the challenges that it presents us today.

Also staying at Scarboro's central house are seminarians John Albey Munoz Avendano and John Ruiz Rios of Colombia, Fr. Gregorio Martinez (Guadalupe Missionaries of Mexico), and seminarians Wilian Gerardo Rojano Moya and Jose Ivan Campana Suarez of Ecuador. The four seminarians are with the Yarumal Mission Society of Colombia.

Also staying at Scarboro's central house are seminarians John Albey Munoz Avendano and John Ruiz Rios of Colombia, Fr. Gregorio Martinez (Guadalupe Missionaries of Mexico), and seminarians Wilian Gerardo Rojano Moya and Jose Ivan Campana Suarez of Ecuador. The four seminarians are with the Yarumal Mission Society of Colombia.

Every two years there is a meeting of the Superiors General of all of the MISAL members hosted by one of the mission sending societies. I have attended four of these meetings and always have found them to both informative and challenging. Every other year, members of the leadership teams (General Councils) of the Americas participate in a regional meeting.

In addition to these encounters, the leadership teams of Quebec and Scarboro meet annually. The most recent one was an international meeting that took place in the early part of 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand. The principal theme was interreligious dialogue. It is one of our priorities at Scarboro Missions and we benefit from the insights and wisdom that were shared with us by the interfaith commission of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences.

It is our expectation that the cooperation and mutual enrichment will continue for years to come. Once again we extend our profound gratitude to our benefactors whose support is indispensable in these programs of cooperation.

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