Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Waegwan (Agenzia Fides) - On Holy Thursday 5 April a fire broke out during the night in the largest Benedictine Monastery in Asia situated Waegwan in South Korea. The building was seriously damaged. The disaster was reported to Fides by the missionary branch of Benedictines of Sankt Ottilien in Bavaria, Germany.
No one was hurt but all the cells were completely destroyed and the 70 monks have had to move elsewhere. The fire was discovered at 1.15 in the morning by the Vice-prior Fr. Andreas Jeon as he returned from his office of night adoration. He woke the brothers and called the fire brigade. The fire fighters took five hours to put out the fire. The fire was probably caused by a short circuit.
Arch Abbot Jeremias Schröder President of the Benedictine Congregation of Sankt Ottilien, who is in charge of the Benedictine missionaries and of the monastery at Waegwan, flew to Korea on Easter Monday to see the situation and assess material needs and to encourage the stricken brothers. “We are deeply upset but grateful that no one was hurt”, he said.
The Abbey of Waegwan belongs to the Benedictines of Sankt Ottilien Germany and with its 136 monks it is the largest Benedictine community in Asia. At the main House in Waegwan, there are usually about 75 monks, and other communities dependent on the Abbey exist in various parts of the territory. Established in 1909 by Bavarian missionary Benedictines, the monastery was first at Tokwon, in what is today North Korea. When monasteries were suppressed by the Communist regime in 1949, the monks who escaped persecution formed a community at Waegwan in 1952. The community was raised to the rank of Abbey in 1964. (MS) (Agenzia Fides, 13/04/2007 - 21 righe, 313 parole)
