The 93-year-old French missionary arrived in Korea a year after the war ended. Since 1969 he is the first bishop of this small Catholic community in a rural setting along with many displaced by the conflict. He told the Catholic Times: “I am proud of what the Korean people have achieved. What are my concerns today? We always accept what the Lord gives us.”
Andong ( / Agencies) – He celebrates seventy years of priesthood, lived entirely at the service of the Korean Catholic Church. It is the milestone that the South Korean Catholic Church is celebrating with Mons. Rene Albert Dupont. The 93-year-old prelate is a missionary of the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP) and between 1969 and 1990 he was the first bishop of the small diocese of Andong. A native of Orleans, he was ordained a priest in France on June 29, 1953. In 1954 he came to Korea as a missionary; It was barely a year since the war had ended. Thousands of displaced people who had fled the fighting were concentrated in Andong. Father Dupont stood by this community and helped it grow. He still lives here today-tells the Korean Catholic weekly Catholic Times. And he always welcomes the many people who visit him with a smile.
From 1954 to today, Korea has changed profoundly. “At that time it was a very backward country – says Bishop Dupont -. Today I tell everyone that I feel proud: our people have gone from having nothing to improving at every step”. Complaints are not lacking: the population is declining due to the collapse of marriages, rural areas such as the Andong diocese are being emptied due to the phenomenon of migration. However, Monsignor Dupont says he is proud that he has never abandoned his faith: “When poverty was widespread and the diocese was distributing items to help people, some people said: When things run out, they won’t come anymore. I I didn’t believe in that. And when the food ran out, no one gave up their faith.”
He invites us to look at today’s challenges in this same spirit: “The diocese of Andong today has fewer faithful than when it was founded,” continues the elderly prelate. We don’t have youth. Many parishes do not even have a Sunday catechism. But I tell you: do not be pessimistic, do not envy the other dioceses, accept what the Lord gives us. We just have to help each other and serve the Lord however we can.”
In his writings he speaks a lot about joy, which for him is “sharing good with others.” And to those who ask him for a balance of the 70 years of his priestly life, he answers: “I tried to listen to the Lord in ‘silence’ instead of telling my story. I pray one hour a day in silence before the Lord. I ask that I know how to accept what He wants me to do. I have always lived like this in my priestly life. You can’t do more than that.”