3351 Two very special works by the late Fr John Trisolini
austraLasia #3351

 
Two very special works by the late Fr John Trisolini
SEOUL: 18 January 2013 --  Two solid publications can now be found on SDL, the result of work achieved over a fifty year period in Korea by Fr Jack Trisolini SDB. The originals of these are in both Korean and English, but only the English edition is available in SDL. One is a compendium and commentary on Catholic Social Teaching, the other is his life story (A Voice in the Wilderness) drawn largely from his autobiography.  Both remained unfinished at his death - he died at his computer while finalising the work on CST - but were completed and subsequently published by the Labour Pastoral Commission of the Archdiocese of Seoul. There are moving tributes to Jack in both works, one by the Archbishop of Seoul, Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung.  Below is an extract from the introduction to the CST work by the current director of the Commission, Fr Yoon Jun Huh:

"Father John Trisolini, SDB, came to Korea in 1959. Since his arrival in Korea, he was involved in various pastoral works in many areas for 51 years. He regarded education and formation of young people as most important. For many years he taught Social Doctrine with all his energy and zeal.

He started teaching the social doctrine of the Church from 1990. In those days, there were no text books published in the Korean language. Even now it is still the same. In order to teach, Father Trisolini had to summarize related Church Documents according to their themes and had to add his own interpretation coming from his own experience.

While he was teaching over many years, students increased. Not only the number of students increased but different kinds of people came to learn from him. Therefore he had to continue to extend and synthesize his teaching material. He did this until the moment of his death. We, the Labor Pastoral Commission of Catholic Social Teaching of the Archdiocese of Seoul, planned to publish Fr. John Trisolini’s commentary on Social Doctrine in order to commemorate the 40 year anniversary of foundation of the Labor Pastoral Commission of the Archdiocese of Seoul. Fr. Trisolini died while he was writing on the issues of bioethics, which are currently causing many problems in the society in many ways.

He died while writing on these issues. When we found him dead, he was sitting in front of his computer and the computer was on. He could not complete his writing. Although he could not finish this work, we want to publish as much as he has written.

Fr. Trisolini is not the original writer of the content of this book. He tried to help people to understand the social teaching of the Church as much as possible. In order to help, he summarized the historical development of the social doctrine of the Church and tried to explain the teaching and position of the Church on the issues which cause sharp controversies and conflicts in the society. Whenever any issue cause conflict, he explained it in a very easy way to understand. Some people will be satisfied, and some people will not be satisfied with this book according to each person’s viewpoint. But we know that there are not many books on the social doctrines of the Church which are easy to understand. Therefore, we decided to publish this book.

Archbishop Choi Chang Moo (emeritus, Kwanju] who oversaw this book told us to publish it in two languages within one book, English and Korean, in order to avoid possible misunderstandings.

Since Fr. Trisolini wrote the book in English, there could be misunderstandings and conflicts because of problems of language and cultural elements for those who study this book. By publishing this book in two languages, a clearer understanding can be provided. People who read this book can have a variety of views and opinions. But this book will surely help many Christians to understand the Church’s social teaching properly and to accept it willingly. These Christians will contribute in making the society brighter and more peaceful with the light and hope of the Lord..."