Fr. Jerome Kim is called to return to Korea

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Father Jerome Kim

SALT LAKE CITY — Father Jerome Kim, associate pastor of Saint Ambrose Parish in Salt Lake City, has been called to return to his order, the Clerical Society of the Most Holy Trinity at Mirinae, in South Korea.

The order, which has many monasteries throughout the world, was founded by Father Jung Francis Xavier in 1948.

When Fr. Kim returns to Korea, he won’t have a particular assignment, he said. "There are 60 religious brothers and 60 priests, and we pray together five times a day. My general superior said I need prayer with my religious brothers and I must obey."

The first purpose of the order is to "proclaim the Gospel everywhere in the world," said Fr. Kim. "The second is education and the third is hospital ministry."

Fr. Kim came to Utah in April 2009 after serving five years in Palestine. He found the Diocese of Salt Lake City while searching the Internet, and spoke with Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, who was then vicar general, about the possibility of serving here.

"He accepted me well," Fr. Kim said, adding that the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, also welcomed him.

In addition to assisting at St. Ambrose Parish, Fr. Kim was assigned to hospital ministry at Primary Children’s Hospital, the Huntsman Center, Shriners Hospital and the University Medical Center. He visited Catholic patients four days a week to give them the sacraments and Scripture counseling, he said.

"Fr. Kim was always willing to help in any way: by celebrating the Masses, hearing confessions at the parish or the school or filling in when I was on vacation," said Fr. Andrzej Skrzypiec, St. Ambrose pastor. "He was very kind and was good to the people. He faithfully and diligently served patients in the hospital and was always willing to go when there was a call."

Fr. Kim said the hospital ministry is very important to him. "I am always willing to go no matter what time it is; I don’t want to lose any Catholic soul. ... Those who are dying are on the borderline between the nether-world and this world."

Fr. Kim prepares the dying to enter the Kingdom of God and to meet Jesus Christ by hearing confessions and anointing and blessing the dying, he said. Some people haven’t been to confession for 50 or 60 years. "I also ask them to pray for the Catholic Church and the priests when they enter the Kingdom of God and they promise they will."

Two types of people pass away, Fr. Kim said. "Some people have guardian angels surrounding them, while others have the devil come to take their soul. So we must prepare the patients well before they die. I sprinkle them with holy water and pray for them, and ask the families to also pray. I also ask the patients to speak to Jesus Christ from their heart. ‘O Lord, have pity on me, I’m nothing before you.’ It makes them humble."

After the sacred moment, Fr. Kim watches the patient’s face usually turn from serious and unhappy to a state of relaxation and happiness, he said.

Fr. Kim also served as spiritual advisor for the diocesan Korean community at Saint Patrick Parish in Salt Lake City.

Agnes Yoon, a member of the Korean community, wishes Fr. Kim could stay longer, she said. "We will miss him when he leaves. He is a very hard worker and was really trying to help our community become more active. He set a good foundation for us and hopefully we can continue on. He also offered us spiritual guidance and encouraged us to form prayer groups."

Fr. Kim chose to come to America to give back, he said. Both his bishop and pastor were American priests. "I watched them growing up; they were very holy and I learned Catholic spirituality from them, so I wanted to repay the American Catholic people. I became an American citizen two years ago."

Fr. Kim was ordained Jan. 28, 1992 in Korea. He was inspired to become a priest when he was 15 years old. "I had a strong feeling about God," he said. "I felt God loves me and cries for this world and I decided to become a priest so that I could help people and proclaim the Gospel all over the country and make them burning with love."

A farewell reception will be held for Fr. Kim at St. Ambrose Parish on July 20-21 following the Masses.