ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Father Vincenzo and the wounds of Christ on the outskirts of Seoul

by Pascale Rizk

Seongnam (Agenzia Fides) - Free love is disarming and it endures over time. This is what his father Angelo said on the day his son Vincenzo became a Catholic priest in April 1987: "Just as gold does not change over time, so too will our love for you remain." Father Vincenzo Bordo, missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, still loves with the same love "to the end". He has done this since he arrived in South Korea, which will be 35 years ago next May.

In South Korea today everyone knows the "strange foreigner" by the name of Kim Ha-jong Shinbunim. He grew up in the Viterbo area, with the solid human temperament of a farmer, animated by the strong desire to "love and serve the last" since he was a boy.

Fascinated by the Orient and oriental studies, he set off for Korea with his confrere Father Mauro Concardi. Today he can often be found in "Anna's House" in Seongnam City, the second largest city after Suwon in the Gyeonggi-do province in the suburbs of Seoul, about 28 km from the center of the metropolis.

The area has long been an ideal place for the homeless: close to a large market and in the middle of a nerwork of subways and bus lines that made it easier for them to get around. That is why he started his work there, which he continues with a clear view and a work apron. Korea between past and present

The Korea that welcomed him three decades ago is no longer the same. Impressive economic development, rapid change, international tensions and even political unrest in recent times. "When I arrived here, the most commonly used word in Korean was 우리 (we). Our family,' 'our community,' 'our church,' 'our homeland,' 'our neighborhood.' The feeling of belonging was very strong. Today, the most used word is 'I,'" says Father Bordo, adding: "We have gone from a very strong community dimension, sometimes even too strong, to an egocentric 'I' in an egocentric city. The society that was used to taking care of relatives, parents, the community has become a society where a person dies in the neighborhood and you do not know it because the number of people living alone is increasing dramatically."

Compared to when he came to Korea, the beggars have disappeared. The “new poverty” manifests itself in the lives of those who “don’t have an intelligent, complex, articulate mind” and are unable to keep up with the “modern, rich, fast, intelligent, diverse and complex” society, explains Father Vincenzo.

When it is time for dinner, he is amazed at how many people in their 50s come and line up to eat. “Apart from the pensions paid by big companies like Samsung or Hyundai,” says Father Vincenzo, “in the 1990s there was no form of social security for people. Today there is a minimum pension, a system to support people in serious difficulties and even a minimum guarantee of health care.”

The new poverty and the dispossessed

The “new poor” who attend “Anna’s House” belong to the category of people who do not fit into this social system. They are without a fixed place of residence. An existential condition that is not taken into account in the statistics on the number of homeless people living on the streets. "But those who sleep under the stairs are also 'homeless'," explains Father Vincenzo, adding: "The latest statistics we have analyzed show that 35 percent of the elderly who visit 'Anna's House' are homeless, 'homeless' in the full sense, while 33 percent are 'on the threshold'. The latter have little money and can use the system that allows them to rent a room for 300,000 won, or about 200 euros. So they do not sleep on the streets, but they are still homeless."

In South Korea, poverty is not the result of a lack of work. There is work in Korea, "God's chef", as the missionary is called in the book published in 2021 as part of a fundraising campaign (see Fides, 21/10/2023), keeps affirming this. Even today, "Anna's House" is financed 40% by state funds and 60% by donations.

The reasons that lead people to live on the streets are character-related, social, physical and economic. According to data released on February 3, 2025 by "Statistics Korea" and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, old-age poverty in Korea, which had apparently been declining, is worsening. Compared to the relative poverty rate of 9.8 percent of the South Korean population (9.7 percent for men and 10.0 percent for women) and South Korea's overall poverty rate (14.9 percent), the rate of the elderly is significantly higher. Although it has steadily declined since 2013 to 37.6% in 2021, the percentage of people aged 65 and over living below 50% of the median income rose to 38.2% in 2023. In a country that was officially defined the "society of the very elderly" last year - since they make up 20% of the total population - their poverty rate has thus worsened for the second year in a row.

Those who visit "Anna's House" are at medium to low levels over the course of their lives. 70 percent of them live on one meal a day, usually in the evening. "Perhaps someone is not mentally strong and does not have a family to stand behind them and support them, to push them on. Their loneliness has many causes: those who have not married, those who have divorced and left their families, those who have failed in life. As I said, I am talking about the lower middle class; so I am not talking about Korea in general, but about the people who come here to eat, they are generally outsiders and cannot keep up with the pace of this society,” stresses Father Vincenzo.

Anna's House: not only meals

Just like the scorching temperatures in Senegal, where Father Bordo set out on his first mission on foreign soil, in South Korea it is the cold “without gloves” and “without a winter coat” that makes life unbearable for the “beloved street friends”. This is why “Anna’s House” offers not only meals but also basic services to people on the street. On the lower floor of the building there is the canteen.

On the first floor there is a hair salon, showers and clothing for the needy. Then, on the second floor, there are various forms of support during the week. "On Mondays there are lawyers for those who need legal advice, on Tuesdays there are various doctors: internists, dentists, psychiatrists, and we give out free medication. Wednesday is a day dedicated to those with alcohol problems, where we educate about the effects of alcohol consumption. On Thursdays we are there for job seekers, and on Fridays we have cultural programs," says the missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate as he moves from one floor to another. "We try to have a holistic approach to the person, because he is not just a stomach that needs to be filled, but a human being that needs to be welcomed and helped to grow and eventually escape from tjis reality."

On the third and fourth floors, the facility offers accommodation to about 30 homeless men. To help them rebuild their lives, they are integrated into a program where they work in a factory opposite the house (see video).

Volunteers at Anna's House: Dialogue through action

"Look at this," says Father Bordo, pointing to a plaque on the wall listing the people who run the facility.

Anna's House is a government-approved non-profit organization that cares for street dwellers, and the building it occupies is reserved for adult men. There are eight other homes for families and street children. There are 55 certified social workers working in these facilities, but the number of volunteers who come to help amounts to 1,500 per month.

"Most of them have no religion and are not interested in one. Some have Buddhist roots, but they do not participate in the rites. They come on Saturdays because they do not normally work. When I ask them why they volunteer, some say that volunteering is beautiful, that sharing is important, some believe in a more just society, others say that love brings joy, that sharing awakens emotions... So we are talking about basic human values. If you analyze these words - beautiful, love, justice, sharing - they are all names of God. So here you experience God without being aware of it.”

“Sometimes,” says Father Vincenzo, “I talk about the disciples of Emmaus. When do they recognize Jesus? They stay with him without recognizing him. They only recognize him when he breaks the bread. The people who come here can see the Risen Lord by sharing what we do. They experience God even if they do not know him. And this place is now a point of reference for many young people. In thirty years I have seen many stories of conversions, quite a few. It is not automatic, everything takes its time, but several volunteers and staff have decided to be baptized and become Christians."

The "AGIT Outreach Programme" for street children

During a meeting in 2015 with three other institutions that care for street children, it turned out that the number of children cared for was 200, while the parish statistics indicated 2,000 street children. This is how the "AGIT Outreach Programme" was born, a "bus that goes to see the young people". "These young people are basically the lost sheep that Jesus speaks of. The "AGIT Outreach Programme" is a bus that goes to see the street children to seek out an encounter with them," says Father Vincenzo.

With tents, tables and chairs, temporary spaces are created that allow the young people to eat but also to receive some kind of education. "I suggested to the Bishops' Conference that the initiative be carried out in the main cities during World Youth Days," says the religious. “This is necessary,” says Bordo, “because there are so many desperate people that perhaps if we reach out to them, it could be their salvation. The country has a high rate of suicide and depression. Many people come to South Korea and find that everyone is looking for efficiency and development, but in reality they are looking for feelings because they are missing something in their lives.”

Despite his busy schedule, Father Vincenzo Bordo always finds time to get on his bike and cycle around Seoul. There has been no shortage of trials in his life in Korea. During his first conversation with the bishop of the region, the prelate assured him that there were no poor people in the area and few homeless people. “One time a journalist heard about our work and did a little report on us. The then Minister of Education, a woman, had seen the documentary by chance and was amazed that there were street children in South Korea. She called her staff to investigate, and they insisted that there were no street children. The angry Minister called the network staff and accused them of spreading lies. They invited me and a collaborator to explain the situation. It was 1998 and the Minister of Education did not know that there were street children," concludes Father Bordo. (Agenzia Fides, 14/2/2025)

Share:

mission

---

---

local churches

---

---

poverty

---

---

youth

---

---