With a Mass in Korean and a dedication by two bishops, the midstate’s first — and Pennsylvania’s fifth — Korean Catholic church officially has opened. St. Peter Son Korean Catholic Church recently opened in the former Summerdale Alliance Church building at 571 Valley Road in Enola.
“God has made us as a beautiful mosaic,” said the Most Rev. Joseph P. McFadden, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg.
“We must respect the cultures and traditions of each and see beauty in different ways. That is the dynamic of the church.”
St. Peter Son Korean Catholic Community is named after a native son of the Diocese of Jeonju who was canonized by Blessed John Paul II.
The community has served Harrisburg-area Korean Catholics for 30 years. The community initially was served by a priest who came from the Philadelphia Korean Catholic Church once or twice a month.
In 1989, the Diocese of Jeonju, South Korea, began to send priests to the community. Six years later, the midstate Korean Catholic community began to hold weekly Korean Masses in the chapel of St. Theresa Catholic Church in New Cumberland, and religious education classes and social events in a home in Lemoyne.
Monsignor William King said that McFadden last August officially established St. Peter Son Korean Catholic Community of the Diocese of Harrisburg.
The community, which has about 250 members from several midstate counties, is considered an apostolate of the diocese.
“Today is a great blessing,” McFadden said before the dedication. “The Second Vatican Council called for the laity to have full, conscious and active participation. It’s easier to do that when we’re speaking in our native tongue.”
The Most Rev. Lee Byong-Ho of the Diocese of Jeonju, South Korea, gave a welcoming speech, then McFadden told the crowd that “you are St. Peter Son church. This building is where we gather.”
Presented with the key to the church, Byong-Ho opened the door and led the congregation inside.
Byong-Ho dedicated the church to God, then went through the church, using holy water to bless the congregation, the building and the holy objects.
After Mass, the community gathered in the church social hall for a feast.
The Rev. Jae-Sik Yang, the community’s priest, will celebrate Mass in Korean at 10 a.m. Sundays.