SEOUL: 30 January 2011 -- Staff at the headquarters
of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism in Seoul say they have
been inspired and moved by the missionary work of late
Salesian Father John Lee Tae-seok. The workers from the
largest Buddhist denomination in South Korea were speaking
after watching “Don’t Cry, Tonj,” a film about the life of
the Korean Salesian missioner who worked in Tonj, in
war-torn Sudan.
The screening for 200 monks and lay
workers was organized by Venerable Jaseung, chief executive
of the order.
“I watched the film twice and was in two minds as to whether
I should show it to the staff,” he said.
“It depicts the good life of a Catholic missioner and I was
worried some of us would convert to Catholicism after being
moved by the film,” he added.
“Father Lee who lived an unselfish life and cared for
underprivileged people can be a good role model for us. If
we could have one Buddhist cleric like him, the better it
would be for Buddhism,” he said.
“I hope our clerics will be encouraged by the film and
become clerics of purpose and honesty,” he added.
Father Lee, graduated from a medical
college in 1987 and was ordained as Salesian priest in 2001
before serving the sick, poor and children in Tonj, in
Southern Sudan.
During his nine years there, he built a
clinic for Hansen’s disease patients and a boarding school.
He also formed a brass band to raise children’s spirits
during the country’s civil war.
Father Lee died in January 2010 at age 48, two years after
being diagnosed with colon cancer.
“Father Lee’s story was so moving. His life crosses
religious boundaries and his sharing of everything he owned
is a good example for all of us,” one Buddhist worker said.
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