– Marco Carvalho
He was ordained a priest on September 29th in a ceremony presided by Bishop Stephen Lee which was the pinnacle of more than a decade of total dedication to the discovery of the message of God. South Korean James Chang Woo Ho prayed for the first time in Vietnam at age 17 and since then, the contentment and restfulness he found within the Church never abandoned him. Faith placed him in pursuit of Saint Andrew Kim’s footsteps and brought him to Macau, where he intends to repay the effort made by the local Church to evangelize the Korean Peninsula.
You have been ordained priest a little more than one month ago, on the 29th of September. When did you first feel compelled to answer the call of God?
It was when I was 17 years old. I was living in Vietnam, with my family. My family moved to Vietnam because my father had a business there. I was worried about my future very much, because in Vietnam I didn’t have many friends; I couldn’t even talk to the people because of the language barrier. I couldn’t do anything and I started to feel very depressed. What could I do with my future? By chance, I went to a church and the people I met in that church made me feel that I should be a Catholic. I felt very happy whenever I went to the church and I thought it could be a very good thing for me. By that time, a Korean priest came to Vietnam to manage the Korean community there. I met that Korean priest and soon I was praying for the first time …
You had never prayed before?
I prayed a Rosary and I prayed it for one hundred days straight. I didn’t stop. During those one hundred days, I prayed God to give me the strength and the capacity to choose my future. After I prayed for one hundred days, that Korean priest came to me and asked me if I wanted to join the Seminary. Back then, I answered him: “No, I don’t want to go to the seminary. Why would I want to go to the Seminary? I don’t want to.” His suggestion, nevertheless, remained in my mind. I found myself asking myself again and again a bothering question: “Why did he ask me to join the seminary? Why did he ask me about that?” I kept thinking about that and sooner than later I told myself: “Let’s do this! Let’s try to go to the seminary.” I told that Father that I wanted to go to the Seminary and after I said “Yes” to him, everything went very naturally. I believe in Faith, I believe in God. Everything that God gave me went as naturally as the water that flows. After I gave my “Yes” to that Korean priest, two other priests from the Congregation of the Blessed Martyrs of Korea, which is my Congregation, came also in a mission to Vietnam. They met with that Korean parish priest and the three of them, they talked about me. Then they met me and that was when I heard about the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs for the first time. They suggested that I should visit the Congregation the next time I visited Korea. That visit came when I was 18 years old, during my summer vacation. In that visit to the Congregation in Korea, I had the chance to stay at the Formation House of the Congregation and after I paid that visit I decided that I didn’t want to go to the Seminary any more … What I saw there was very hard. I thought I wouldn’t be able to live that kind of life …
What made you change your mind? What led you to think that the way of God was the right way for you?
Even though it was a very hard thing to live alone, I couldn’t escape my own mind. Those two week summer vacations that I spent with the Congregation left a very strong impression on me. After I had that experience I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was kind of addicted to that kind of life. I kept thinking: “What can I do? What should I do with my future?” I decided to be a Catholic and by accepting that I also accepted that Catholics should live according to what they are given by God. I made the choice to live accordingly with the pathway that God gave me. It was all very natural: I didn’t really question his choices or tried to contradict them, by getting a dream job or something alike. My future and my dream job, they came to me very naturally. Back then, I just thought: “Let’s try. Let’s try to get into the Congregation.” I was very young. I was 18 years old and what I said to myself was: “Let’s try. If I don’t like it, I can always give up.” I could decide afterwards. I just wanted to try. I wanted to experience life in the Congregation, so I decided to join in. I was 19 years old when I joined the Blessed Korean Martyrs.
You have been in Macau for less than one year. Why did you decided to be ordained here in Macau? What is it about Macau that led you to decide that it could be a good place to become a priest?
Actually, I didn’t choose. My Congregation chose it for me. My Congregation and Bishop Stephen decided. I didn’t really decided myself, but I agreed with their choice. Macau is a very meaningful place for the Congregation to which I belong – the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs – because, as you know very well, Saint Andrew Kim studied here. The first Korean Seminarians studied in Macau and this is the reason why Macau is very meaningful to me and very meaningful to the Korean church. When I was told to move to Macau I was very pleased with this possibility. I had never been to Macau before, but I got excited with the idea of living in Macau. I wanted to experience what the first Korean seminarians felt when they were studying here. The history of the Korean church began when Western missionaries came to Korea in order to evangelize the Korean people. When the possibility of coming to Macau was mentioned to me, I felt that I was being chosen to help the Church in Macau, to give back to the place that once helped the Korean people. When I was living in Vietnam, the Vietnamese people – and especially the foreign people living in Vietnam – helped me a lot, helped my family a lot. I always wanted to give that same kind of help, of support to the people around me. Now is the right time to do that. I am in Macau and I have the opportunity to help the people in Macau. I am very happy to be of service and it was very rewarding to be ordained in Macau.
Recently, when the Church commemorated the Blessed Korean Martyrs, the Korean Catholics were asked to pray for peace in the Korean Peninsula. There’s hope in the air because North and South Korea have never been so close. Apart from praying, what else can the Korean Catholics do to achieve the aim of peace? Can the Church have a role on this communion between South and North Korea?
A few weeks ago, Pope Francis agreed to visit North Korea. The Korean Church, I think, is well prepared to reach out to North Korea because it’s what the Korean Catholics have been expecting for many, many years, maybe for more than 50 years. They are well prepared. If they have the chance to get into North Korea, they will gladly accept the challenge to spread the Word of God in North Korea and to get to the souls and hearts of North Korean people. It will be very hard. It is not easy because North Korea is a very particular country. It won’t be very easy for anyone to win their hearts, but the Korean Church is making an effort to get closer and closer to Pyongyang.
How did your family react to your decision to become a priest? In a country with a very strong popular culture, most of the youth probably want to be K-Pop stars, not priests …
Actually, my mother was very enthusiastic about it. When I told my parents, my mother instantly agreed with my choice. She said: “You are not good at business, so you made a good choice, if that what you want to do with your life.” My father, I think, he didn’t really like the idea. He was not disappointed, but he didn’t like my decision either. Nevertheless, he never disagreed with my opinion or showed dissatisfaction. If my parents disagreed with my choice, I wouldn’t have joined the Seminary and I wouldn’t have gone to the Congregation. Even though my father didn’t like it, he never explicitly disagreed with my opinion, and so I joined the Congregation with the support from my father and my mother.
You were saying that you were quite excited with the idea of being ordained a priest here in Macau and to work here in Macau. You are based in Saint Anthony’s Church. What sorts of faithful come to this church?
Actually, it was not yet decided that I would be working in Saint Anthony’s Parish. I still have to study Cantonese and I will go to Hong Kong beginning next January to study Cantonese. I don’t know yet what I am going to do in Macau, specifically. But I am in Macau with the purpose of helping the Macau people. That is what I have to do. That is what I was told to do: to become of service to the Macau Catholic community.
Are there any Korean Catholics here in Macau? Do you work with this community also?
Bishop Stephen put the parish priest, Father Lee, in charge of managing the Korean Catholic in Macau, but there are not many of them. I think there are only four or five. If needed, I will gladly serve the Koreans in Macau too.
You have discovered your vocation in Vietnam. Would you like to return to Vietnam as a priest?
As I have already mentioned, I believe God was the one that chose my path. If I am asked to go to Vietnam, I will be very happy to go there. If my Congregation decides that I should go to Vietnam or to any other country, I will oblige and I will gladly agree with what the Congregation puts on my way. I liked the years I spent in Vietnam very much. During my vacations I visited Vietnam. My parents are still there. I do like Vietnam very much. If I am chosen to go to Vietnam, I will gladly oblige, as I was saying.
What about China? There’s has been a recent agreement between the Holy See and Beijing … Would it be a good place to work also?
It will be very hard in China, but – as I was mentioning – If I am needed there, I will go to China too. I believe God will show me the way. That’s what he did until now and that’s what he will do. My task is to fulfil his plans. That’s what I believe in.
How important is Saint Andrew Kim for the Korean Catholics? Is he still a source of inspiration? He was martyred when he was still very young. You have mentioned more than one time that it was God that decided your path. Would you be able to give your life for God the same way that Saint Andrew Kim did?
I would say yes, but it is not easy. I am trying, I am struggling to be like Kim but I cannot say it for sure. The founder of my Congregation, he always says: “Be a Saint! Try to be a Saint!” I would say, “Yes, I shall live like Saint Andrew Kim.” But it is not easy.
You are the youngest priest working in Macau. There are not many vocations nowadays and there are not many young people willing to make the same choice that you did. What do you think about the future of the Church? Is it possible for the Church to continue growing when we have less and less vocations?
It is not easy. A lot of priests ask themselves the same question. In my opinion, the priests and the religious should be able to show the faithful how happy we are. When I chose to live as a religious person, when I was 17 I experienced life with the Congregation in South Korea and I understood that those people were happy. They were happy together and I saw their happiness and I wanted to share that same happiness. We should be able to show how meaningful our life is. This is a very important aspect. But first of all, we should show how happy we are, how happy this life can be. This is the most important thing.
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