"I am a citizen of the world"
When St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the American foundress of the Sisters of Charity, penned the words, "I am a citizen of the world," in 1817, she perhaps could have little imagined how truly global her small band of sisters would become.* Yet, today, Mother Seton's sisters serve all over the world. This international character of the order deeply impacts the lives of each individual sister. Below are personal thoughts and reflections from several of the Sisters of Charity living here in Greensburg, PA. All of their responses (collected through both interviews and written essays) in some way answer what being an international community means to each of them.
Sr. Alice Ruane is today the last surviving member of the four Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill who first went to Korea in 1960. In July 2021, she had an opportunity to reflect on her life during an oral history interview. Click on the audio file underneath her photograph to listen to an excerpt from this interview.
"I was impacted early in 1965 when Sr. Sung Hae Kim entered our community in Kang Jin. I had arrived in Korea in November of 1964. Sr. Sung Hae was very gracious, happy, kind and helpful. She wrote in Korean several classroom instructions for me that I used each day.
She explained more fully the Korean customs and traditions that I and the other Sisters were observing daily. Before I went to language school, she patiently listened to my mistakes and helped me. We enjoyed meeting her mother and her family and heard her mother's story of how the Korean War impacted their family.
This was the foundation, the beginning of our international community, and the experience broadened me in so many ways: physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally!"
Over the span of several decades, Sr. Marian Joseph Adams (the real-life sister of Sr. Ann Patrick Adams) traveled to South Korea multiple times to teach English in the Korean Province, just as her sister has also done over the years. In fact, in 2007-2009, the sibling sisters were even teaching in Korea at the same time! Sr. Marian Joseph witnessed many changes in Korea, from her first trip in 1987 to her final one, in 2008. One of the many things that she loved about Korea was that the Korean sisters always found time to pray together as a community, despite the sisters' very busy schedules. In Korea, she also learned to value her quiet time as a time to seek God through personal prayer. Years later, she still remembers walking to school and praying the rosary. While Sr. Marian Joseph could not speak to others in Korean, she realized that people can still find ways to communicate without using words, such as through body language. Sr. Marian Joseph loved living in Korea and only decided to make 2008 her last visit due to the fact that she was turning 80!
Sr. Ann Patrick Adams considers her years in Korea to be some of the best years of her life. Sr. Ann Patrick (like her real-life sister, Sr. Marian Joseph Adams) taught English in the Korean Province. Sr. Ann Patrick recalls that she saw Mother Seton's original close-knit and prayerful community reflected in the actions of the Korean sisters. She remembers that the Korean sisters always made time for prayer together and always showed true concern for others around them. Their acts of selflessness continue to touch her today. One of the stories she fondly recalls concerns knitted caps and everyday acts of kindness. Sr. Ann Patrick's evening habit was to pray in the sisters' chapel. One time, she wondered why the Korean sisters were so curious about whether she would be in the chapel that day. To her surprise, when she arrived at the chapel, the Korean sisters were all wearing caps that Sr. Ann Patrick had knitted for them: they had wanted to show Sr. Ann Patrick their appreciation for her gifts!
"On a very cold and dreary day in December the first Korean Sisters who were missioned to ministry in the United States to work in a Korean Parish in Chicago arrived at Regina House. Sisters Seon Ja Lee and Yong Son Kim were weary from the long journey but very anxious to begin this new adventure. I remember thinking how brave they were to travel so far these few days before Christmas to start a new work in our country. The plan was for them to stay with us for two days and then Sister Vivien, the Assistant Provincial, would accompany them to Chicago. It was an important milestone in our Korean journey. As time went on, both women eventually served as Provincials in the Korean Province. We have maintained a friendship ever since that cold December day.
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to join the group heading to Ecuador for an experience in 2012. Five sisters from each Province studied our charism together in Chicago and then traveled to Pedro Carbo, Ecuador to spend time with the sisters from our Korean Province in their ministry. It was a wonderful and life altering experience. Sister Sun Nam Yun and I were partnered together for the outreach program in Chicago when we worked at the Food Bank. Although my Korean was limited to a few greetings and her English was equally sparse, we developed a friendship which continues to this day in spite of our miles and hours of distance. While in Ecuador I grew to appreciate the artistry of every movement of Sun Nam. She danced with an artistry of grace and beauty. Her music ability was equally wonderful. Her sense of humor was delightful and her laugh contagious. She tolerated with much kindness my attempts to learn her dance movements which I did with all the coordination of a baby learning to take his or her first steps. This trip and the quality time with my Korean sisters, most especially with Sun Nam taught me to appreciate each one for her unique personality, gifts, concerns, and hopes. I would not have traded the experience for anything. I am truly grateful that I made that journey."
"I taught conversational English at Somyeong High School in Bucheon South Korea for 2 1/2 years and loved it (August 2014 to December 16, 2016). I got to know many of the sisters by name and continue to communicate with them. I learned to read the Korean language, pray the rosary in Korean with the sisters and respond to all the prayers at Mass. Living, working and praying with our Korean Sisters, definitely gave me a greater appreciation of our Korean Sisters and the Korean culture. I really came to know and love our Korean sisters and I love it when they are here in our American province with us."
"Intercultural friendship and knowledge stretched me in many ways. It makes me realize that we are all human beings and wish for one major thing and that is peace. With peace, comes acceptance and love. It helps me grasp the importance and understanding that we are different but yet the same. Our Korean Sisters are kind and generous in so many ways. This enhances our ability to work with each other and it becomes reciprocal. By knowing our Korean sisters, I have learned to know myself better. We are all Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. We live the same vows and life-style. When we share life together whether in the United States or in Korea, there is a common understanding of our life and love of God and our community. This friendship with our Korean Sisters, and my friendship with a family from India, and my Haitian experience, and the experience with the Ecuadorian children and families help me see differences and yet the same humanness. This helped to provide social support, collaboration, and a sense of community and understanding. From our Korean sisters, I learned about their food, holidays, and festivals. It was fun sharing all these wonderful customs with each other. All these experiences and opportunities for networking create a strong partnership, understanding, and love of each other. It enhances our support of each other's family life, ministry, and spirituality. The personal relationship I have with many of our Korean sisters fills me with love and appreciation of our community and for our four sisters who traveled to Korea over 60 years ago! I am most grateful!"
When Sr. Cory Canon thinks about the Korean Province, several vivid adjectives capture her image of her community's sisters from Korea: "enthusiastic, prayerful, immersed in charism, joyful, well-educated, sense of interculturality, fun loving."
"The Korean Province is a fulfillment of my life's dreams to be a missionary. I personally have never been assigned to Korea, but I have always wanted to be. I did have an opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Korea in 2000. My sister and I traveled to many of the ministry sights and experienced first hand the many ministries of our Sisters in Korea. Then in 2012 and 2018, I spent time in Ecuador in the IECM project. The memories of our preparations, travel and working together are still vivid. My prayer partner was on the trip in 2012. I cherish the time spent with her as well as each communication exchanged since. Being in leadership since 2012, I have had the joy to interact with the Leadership of the Korean Province either in person or by zoom these past two years. The personal interactions with Sisters has brought us closer. When I do Mission Appeals for the Korean Province, I speak from the heart for our Sisters."
Sr. Kathleen Gallagher deeply treasures the friendships she has had with Korean sisters over the years. Through these friendships, Sr. Kathleen, who has not yet had the opportunity to visit Korea, has learned so much about Korean culture, history, and society. She is deeply moved by the close relationship between the U.S. and Korean Provinces, saying that today “we’re all one.” Recently, Sr. Kathleen had an opportunity to reflect on the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill history and mission, while she was speaking for a Mission Appeal. Through sharing her community’s story with others, it struck her how international the Sisters have become and how grateful she is for the ways God has guided the community. In the post-pandemic world, Sr. Kathleen looks forward to finally making her postponed trip to South Korea. She cannot wait to finally visit the country that is home to so many Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill!
"The invitation and response of the congregation to open a mission in South Korea introduced an enthusiasm and excitement to the spirit of an apostolic group. Here was something new, something challening even to an individual within the first ten years of her religious life. Over the years, the initial spirit may wax and wane, but periodically we have opportunities to rejuvenate that spirit through communications, interactions and having wonderful experiences in participating in the Mission Cooperative Plan. I've been blessed with assignments that provide those opportunities, to getting to know individual Korean Sisters, and to expand knowledge through the trips to Ecuador and to Korea. Beyond the many "Perks" of being in the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill is the realization that this group is alive and well, that our documents frequently remind us of our call to serve...in lands near and far.
The leadership teams that have guided the congregation over the years have deliberately committed resources to initiating and developing intercultural exchanges and dialogues between the Provinces. Programs and plans were put in place to encourage creativity and willingness of individual sisters to participate in intercultural learnings and enrichment. Differences in language naturally present barriers to free and open communication which we recognize as a difficulty. This difficulty, however, is tempered by the desire and effort of sisters to learn a little Korean and those more proficient in languages to become translators. It is with hope that the intercultural exchanges help create tolerance and openminded acceptance of different races and cultures. Exchange programs of various lengths of stay have contributed to understanding of "the other" and from our Sesquicentennial Prayer: "Enable us to be WOMEN OF CHARITY FOR THE WORLD."
"Communication is often a "language of the heart." The experience at IECM taught me that we don't have to speak the same language as another in order to communicate, and we don't always have to rely on an interpreter, we can often make ourselves known through body language and facial expressions[....]
When we live with another culture we also come to realize our means of expression can be very different. It may take longer to "hear" what someone really means.
Park, Jong Naye and I have been conversation partners for at least four years. The communication started while she was still in Korea. I came to "know" about her family, the common celebrations as well as traditions that went with the day/season. When she arrived at La Roche University and I visited, we immediately enjoyed one another as sisters and friends. And now it is wonderful to have her so close - and yet "not so close." It really would be great to get together more often. However, both of us have very busy schedules and for the most part, Tuesday evening from 7 - 7:45 PM we continue to be "conversation partners."
The Korean sisters bring a beautiful culture and tangible joy to our community. During IECM their eagerness to learn as well as to share was quite evident as together we deepened our understanding of our founders. This truly brought out what deep thinkers and serious students they are. They were very willing to share their real feelings in these discussions and found most of the USA sisters much more timid in this regard. (I have to add that during these classes we did have an interpreter.) We may be "fading away" in numbers in the USA, but our charism will continue to be alive and well!"
"When the call came in 1960 for volunteers to go to Korea, I joined with well over 50(?) or more others who wrote a letter to Mother Claudia explaining why she should be chosen. I had just returned from three years of religious studies in Rome, Italy, where I had been immersed in intercultural and mission oriented experiences. It was difficult adjusting to the provincial thinking of Western Pennsylvanians who were my community. Maybe Korea, I thought. But I was not chosen. My path lay in a different direction, drawn to interreligious dialogue, especially with Judaism, and the beginnings of a Hebrew speaking community in Israel. Nevertheless, the fact that Sisters were in Korea and that Koreans were entering our Congregation supported both interculturality and interreligious dialogue. Let me explain.
While we had as a congregation spread to Arizona and California, we had not gone into the field of foreign mission. This was our first experience, and with it came the necessity to be open to the challenges of both interculturality and interreligious dialogue. One of the first Koreans to enter our congregation was Sister Sung Hae Kim, and she was actually the first Sister who visited me in Israel because of the research she was engaged in for her Ph.D. It was Sister Sung Hae who early on established a center for interreligious dialogue in Korea, focusing on religions of the East, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, etc. Vatican II in the document Nostra Aetate had already pointed out the significance of other religious traditions, especially that of Judaism, which became the core of my life, prayer, study, work.
As we entered the new millennium, our Korean Sisters grew in number and exercised greater influence in our congregational meetings. Whether we understood it or not by 2009 we had become in the opening article of our Constitutions a "pontifical international apostolic religious congregation" with emphasis on the "international." (Constitutions, Article 1, p. 11) While most of the American Sisters came from provincial western Pennsylvania, our consecrated lives were to be lives dedicated "to God for the needs of the church and of the world, especially in the service of the poor." (Ibid.) This was a thrust made constitutionally firm because of Vatican II and in no small measure because of the presence and influence of our Korean sisters. In the General Chapter of 2008 that approved the 2009 Constitutions, Sister representatives came to Seton Hill from China, Ecuador, Israel, Korea, and across the United States - almost 50 years after the foundation one felt the transformation of the congregation."
"Over the years from about 1985-2000 I visited South Korea many times for about a month at a time. During that time I had the opportunity to watch the Korean Province continue to evolve as described in Living the Charism of Charity. I met many sisters, saw ministries expand, saw the beauties of creation, learned the recent history as well as how deep ancient culture permeates faith and relationships.
From 2004-2006 I lived with our sisters in Gangjin and taught conversational English to the students at St. Joseph School as well as students in the preschool. The students were open and full of life and the sisters were very supportive in my learning "new ways of living" in the convent.
In this small town not too far from the sea a "miguck" (American) was unusual. Small children would practice the English they were learning with me on the street and the adults were very willing to help when they saw me in distress. In fact I could say in Korean "I only speak a little Korean" then we would have a conversation in Korean which I could not understand but could sense their friendliness. I really enjoyed Korean food which was a great advantage.
A few years later I had the opportunity to share in ministry with about ten sisters from both provinces in the small town in Ecuador, Pedro Carbo, staffed by sisters from Korea and lay folks from Ecuador. All who had this opportunity experienced how we were one in our mission to serve families and students who were facing challenging life situations in needy conditions."
Being connected to a province in another country has also deepened awareness of global events for the sisters in Greensburg. Sr. Marie Theresa Rishel recounted recently (Summer 2021): "Dinner time provided an opportunity for us to discuss Korean history. One topic we discussed was the Gwangju Democratic Uprising of May 18, 1980. We had just opened our novitiate in Gwangju. Now Gwangju was cut off from the rest of the country and living under Martial Law. When Sisters Marlene and Shin Ja Lee, who were on their way to Seoul, heard of the serious situation they were able to take the last bus from Seoul to Gwangju. The government attempted to keep news of these pro-democracy efforts from spreading out of the Gwangju area. The army opened fire on its own citizens many of whom were students. Sr. Yong Son Kim took me to the memorial honoring those who died in the Gwangju Democratic Uprising of May 18, 1980. This date holds a prominent place in Korean history."
"I volunteered to live in our Korean Province for two years, teaching conversational English at our St. Joseph High School in Kang Jin, South Korea. As time went on, I played the organ at the parish morning liturgy. I would walk to the camera store to have film developed and purchased rolls. Sometimes the clerk would surprise me with an unannounced two-for-one sale. As an elementary teacher for a few years in the U.S., I taught Geography in addition to my music classes schedule. I loved exploring the world with the students and one student went on to win second prize in the Pennsylvania Geography Fair. Having the opportunity to spend a good period of time in Korea gave “Geography Class” a whole new meaning. It was real, tangible, and with feeling. A totally new language, a new alphabet, a new cuisine, new architecture and home dwellings all exploded like fireworks for the longest time as I was introduced to sights and sounds of the Korean countryside, temples, and hiking trails.
It’s impact? That’s what it’s like when immigrants must relocate to another part of the world for whatever reason. Each country, each culture has a perspective on the world with similarities that travel across national boundaries and with differences so unique and special. Concentrate on the similarities: laughter and tears, hard work and relaxing, building and creating, making music and artistic renderings. Enjoy the similarities while learning about and enjoying the differences. In doing so, the differences are no longer “foreign” but rather additions to one’s life long vocabulary.
In 1960 we established our Korean Mission. It extended our congregational focus from the U.S. locality to a world wide vision. After the immigration years of the industrial revolution, WWI, II, Korean wars, the U.S. seemed to be closing its doors to the immigrant and withdraw into a more isolationist posture. Having a community extension in Korea kept reminding us as a congregation and U.S. citizens not to withdraw from the world of other cultures but rather embrace the differences, welcome the immigrant and join hands with peoples around the world.
Many Korean Sisters have come to the U.S. and especially to our Seton Hill University to study and earn a professional degree. One or two sisters each year are nurses’ aids ministering to our ailing Sisters at our Caritas Christi Motherhouse. Having them live with us, eat with us, and share ministry is a daily reminder of our need to address the racial and cultural divide that exists in the United States and beyond our borders."
"Being in an international community has had a profound impact on my life. I had the wonderful opportunity to be a friend of Sr. Marlene Mondalek who was in our entrance group. She went to serve in Korea after we professed our final vows. When she came back to the United States we always got together and received updates of her experiences in Korea.
I had many opportunities to get to know and spend much time together with Sr. Shin ja Lee when she studied Spirituality at Duquesne University and she often stayed with me at the novitiate when I was the Novice Director.
I participated in the Interprovincial experience with Sisters from Korea in visiting and serving the physically and mentally challenged children in Pedro Carbo., Ecuador. We got to know one another through sharing prayer and working together in preparation for ministering to those in need. Actually we all got more than we gave in being together for this endeavor.
I was fortunate to visit Korea for one month in a cultural interprovincial exchange program. I had many opportunities to spend time with our Korean Sisters and to visit many diverse ministry experiences. Education, social services, parish ministry and ecology houses to mention a few. This was a life changing opportunity for me."
"Over the years, I have had the opportunity to live with and teach sisters from South Korea who were students at Seton Hill University. The first Korean sister with whom I lived was Sister He Ja Kim. When the weather was good, she and I made kimbap on Friday evenings. After my Saturday morning class, we would drive to Twin Lakes for a picnic lunch of kimbap and then spend a leisurely walk around the lakes while she taught me Korean words to describe what we saw and I taught her English words. One year, Sister He Ja was homesick and missed being with her Korean Sisters for Christmas. We decided to drive to Chicago to visit the two Korean Sisters ministering in the Korean parish there. On the trip, He Ja taught me the words to a Korean folk song and we sang it until I had mastered all of the Korean words. I was perplexed why this was important - until the evening we celebrated an anticipated New Year's party with the members of the Korean parish. The Sisters introduced me as their guest and we began to sing the song that He Ja had taught me - and I soon realized that I was the only one singing. It was then that I learned the custom that visitors entertain their hosts with a song in the language of the hosts.
During that visit, our Korean Sister hosts took us to Korean restaurants in their neighborhood for dinners where they introduced me to Korean cuisine. They also treated us to a visit to a museum that had a special exhibit of historical artifacts from Korea, where I learned the history of foreign invasion of Korea.
I traveled with Sister Shin Ja the year we served on the planning committee for the first general chapter that occurred in Korea. After the two weeks planning session, Sister Shin Ja visited her family and the Korean Sisters invited me to visit as many of their ministries as I could during that week. While I do not remember the names of the ministries, I remember that I went from the Korean Provincial House in the south to Seoul in the north with individual and groups of Sisters as my host(s). With the Korean words that I had learned from Sister He Ja, I could follow the conversations at meal times and enter sporadically, sometimes to the Sisters' surprise and delight.
Over the years, I have made friends with many of the Korean Sisters whom I met during that visit to Korea, and with many of the Korean Sisters who earned their undergraduate degrees from Seton Hill College/University.
After I retired and moved to Caritas Christi, I met Sister He Chun and participated in her Korean Language class and learned 100 Korean words and phrases. I now can communicate with our Korean Sisters using very simple sentences and phrases.
Each week I communicate with Sister Oh Sae Hyang, my Korean conversation partner via Kakao Talk. I also use that free application to keep in touch with many of my Korean Sisters friends via email.
This year after she arrived from Korea, Sister Jong Nyeo Park asked if we could be prayer partners. We have attended Mass together at the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg."
"There is so much I would like to say but the most important thing is that it was in God's plan for our sisters in the United States to go to South Korea to take the beautiful spirit of Elizabeth, Vincent and Louise to the people of Korea. God has blessed all of us with this wonderful bond which unites us as Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. As we celebrate our 150th Anniversary of our founding and our 60th Anniversary in Korea, may we continue to grow in our intercultural relationships which calls us to a deeper relationship with each other and also with the Lord."
* August 1, 1817, Mother Seton to Rev. Simon Gabriel Bruté, S.S. (Elizabeth Bayley Seton: Collected Writings, ed. Regina Bechtle, S.C. and Judith Metz, S.C. Volume 2, p. 494).
"I am a citizen of the world"
