An International Sisterhood Today
Decades have flown by and the dawn of a new century has come and gone since the days when the first four missionaries left San Francisco for South Korea. Many students have attended and graduated from the Korean schools and many Korean and American sisters have lived and worked in both the U.S. and Korean Provinces. Although students have graduated and once young sisters have retired, the Sisters of Charity legacy continues to impact lives today and remains a treasured memory for many. In 2019, graduates of St. Joseph School, as well as other members of the Korean community, traveled to Greensburg. The group spent the day celebrating the Sisters of Charity legacy, reconnecting with the American sisters, and spending a quiet moment with deceased sisters at the cemetery. Mother Seton's order continues to bring a bright light into the world, through both the cherished memories of yesterday's sisters and the international life-changing work of today's sisters.
Today, the Korean Province is a thriving community of about 200 sisters. The Korean Sisters are still actively engaged in education, continuing to operate Eunhae School and other educational institutions. The Sisters serve in other important ways as well, including through pastoral ministry and social welfare programs. Today, the Sisters are present in most of the Catholic dioceses in South Korea!
The Sisters in South Korea have extended their mission far beyond their own national borders. In 1997, the Sisters left South Korea for work in China, where they continue to serve today. Over the years, the Sisters also have cared for national neighbors much closer to home. For example, Sr. Sun Yun Lim recalled that she "started Inchon Saetermin Support Center in 2008 for North Korean Refugees and devoted 6 years for this mission. Still the time when I cried and laughed with the refugees of North Korea are precious experiences in my mind in the Providence of God."*
In 2008, the Sisters from the Korean Province received an invitation to work at a medical clinic and a school for children with disabilities in Pedro Carbo, Ecuador. Just like the first American group to arrive in Korea so many years ago, the Korean Province sent four sisters to a new land halfway across the world. These first sisters sent to Ecuador were Sr. Ok Nam Min, Sr. Jeong Young Kim, Sr. Soon Dok Kim, and Sr. Suk Ja Lee.
The Korean Province's mission in Pedro Carbo has allowed Korean and American sisters to serve side by side in a new way. The annual Interprovincial Experience of Charism and Mission (IECM) is a program that allows sisters from both provinces to immerse themselves in another culture through service in Ecuador, while also deepening their interprovincial relationship. Sisters who have participated in the IECM program often say that it was a life-changing experience. To learn more about the American sisters' experiences in Ecuador, please read the reflections and personal thoughts by sisters, included in the following section of the exhibit.
The sisters from both provinces continue to fully immerse themselves in each other's cultures by living and working in the United States or South Korea. Here in the U.S. Province, the sisters from Korea come for many different reasons, from pursuing studies at Seton Hill University to working as nurses at Caritas Christi.
Currently living in the U.S. Province, Sr. Kwangshim Oh has been part of the Korean Province community since its earliest days. In 1974, Sr. Kwangshim and Soo Ja Choi became the first graduates of Gangjin's St. Joseph School to join the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. She later received an MA in Theology from the Franciscan Theology School of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkley, CA.
Throughout her life, Sr. Kwangshim has lived in both Korea and the United States, working in parishes, at St. Joseph School in Gangjin, and in the administration of the congregation.
Today, Sr. Kwangshim is the Second Councilor on the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill 2019-2024 General Council. In addition to her duties with the General Council, Sr. Kwangshim is also the Assistant Sister Servant at Caritas Christi.
Another sister from the Korean Province is following a very different path while living in the United States. Sr. Seon Mi Jin entered the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Korea in 2006. She is an accomplished translator and in 2018 she began to translate the English language historical works of the community into Korean. She has translated Sr. Francis de Sales Joyce's 2009 Mother Aloysia Lowe, Foundress, Sr. Mary Xavier Farrell's 1941 Happy Memories of a Sister of Charity and is currently finishing her translation of Sr. Electa Boyle’s 1946 Mother Seton’s Sisters of Charity in Western Pennsylvania. In a 2020 interview, Sr. Seon Mi reflected on the role of her ongoing work, explaining "It is a blessing that I translate for our community. I can understand better now about our relationship [Sisters of the Korean Province] with our Sisters of Charity in the United States. I could not completely understand it before I began the translation ministry."** More recently, in the summer of 2021, Sr. Seon Mi further shared that "It is a blessing to me to learn and share a true spirituality and charism of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill."
Sr. Jong Nyeo Park, a nurse known for her kind and compassionate care at Caritas Christi, is also currently living in the U.S. Province. Sr. Jong Nyeo graduated with her nursing degree from Mokpo Catholic University in South Korea. In January 2020, she arrived in the United States, first living in Pittsburgh in order to study English at La Roche University. Only a few months after her arrival, the Covid-19 pandemic caused Sr. Jong Nyeo to move in March to Greensburg, where she continued her studies by Zoom. She finished her English studies at the end of July and, by early August, she was caring for Caritas Christi's 2nd floor sisters, who are the sisters in need of more intensive medical care.
With the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the routine of both provinces was turned upside down and the sisters needed to respond to new crises while also continuing to speak out against the world's ongoing injustices and challenges.
In the U.S. Province, the sisters found ways to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. For example, in the early days of the pandemic, sisters responded to the shortage of face masks by forming a sewing group to make masks. Over the following months, the sisters donated their life-saving creations to many people, from healthcare workers to children at the Seton Center day care in Brookline.
Covid-19 was not the only illness in society that needed to be reckoned with. The need to combat racism and speak out against racial injustices became very evident in 2020. On June 13, 2020, an interfaith prayer vigil was held at the Greensburg Court House "in remembrance of George Floyd and others who were recent victims of racial bias and violence." While the "Sisters of Charity still in quarantine at Caritas Christi offered prayerful support for those in attendance," a small representative group, consisting of Srs. Louise Grundish, Mary Norbert Long, Barbara Einloth, Kwangshim Oh, Edie Strong, Katie Gallagher, and Colette Hanlon, "carried messages of prayer and support from the sisters at the motherhouse, a banner that identified the Sisters of Charity and their stance for peace and justice, and signs that expressed the prayerful support of the Sisters of Charity for solidarity and a peaceful resolution to the problems in our country."***
On the other side of the world, the sisters in the Korean Province underwent many of the same pandemic experiences, such as lockdowns and virtual masses. They also responded to society's difficulties by leaping into action, from making face masks to continuing to raise awareness about the climate crisis. Yet, in the midst of all the chaos for the sisters, they have managed to continue to embrace optimism and see life as a blessing. In an article posted on the Sisters of Charity Federation website, Sr. Minah Ahn reflected, "All people are longing for the times they gathered together, laughed, and chatted together. As time passes, we can realize that this is a meaningful invitation for all of us to recall and be grateful in the moment, and realize that all the simple and not special daily lives we had were a blessing."****
As for so many across the globe, 2020 had been a year like no other for the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, full of challenges, difficulties, and heartaches. Yet, the Sisters of Charity have still found ways to express their order's charism and to celebrate the resilience of their community. Although they were separated by lockdowns and geographic miles, the sisters still creatively and joyfully celebrated the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Greensburg community and the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the first Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Korea. Made a reality through both the magic of modern technology and the determination of the sisters themselves, the Korean Province produced a celebratory annniversary video featuring music and messages from American and Korean sisters. Although living on opposite sides of the globe, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill remain powerfully united through their love for one another and God.
* Sr. Sun Yun Lim, "Meet Our Sisters," Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Generalate, website link here.
** Jane Strittmatter, "An International Perspective for the Sesquicentennial Anniversary Year from Sister Seon Mi Jin," Celebration, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2020.
*** "Sisters Participate in Interfaith Prayer Vigil at the Greensburg Courthouse," Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, June 16, 2020, https://scsh.org/interfaith-prayer-vigil/.
**** Sr. Minah Ahn, "Update from sisters in South Korea," March 27, 2020, Sisters of Charity Federation, https://sistersofcharityfederation.org/korea_update/.
An International Sisterhood Today
