Dear brother priests:
First of all, THANK YOU for your presence here, but much more for your service to the People of God, your dedication to the people who is entrusted, day after day and especially in the recent pandemic thatIt has been for us, ministers of God, a time that has put us to tough test for everyone.
I am happy to be able to meet you today and have this opportunity to look with you at my life and our life. I speak to you with an open heart, without formalities, and therefore I begin with first of all tell you something about myself and also after that, from time to time when I will share with you something about my life.
An option that must always be renewed
When Pope Francis told me in April 2021 that he wanted calling me to Rome to become Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, I took a scare I would never have imagined working one day in the Vatican, far from my land and far from my people. In Korea I was a happy bishop, committed together with my diocese on a promising path after the footprints of our martyrs. Pope Francis had come to us in the diocese for Asian Youth Day and had emerged interesting initiatives. We had also held a diocesan Synod that brought together priests and lay people, and I was building a new Curia diocesan.
And this call came, this request from the Pope. I told him: “But I am a peasant, son of peasants.” The Pope was not impressed by that.
Read the full document in PDF format: BE HAPPY AS PRIESTS. Cardinal Lazzaro YOU HUENG-SIK eng