hankyoreh

Gerard Hammond, a missionary with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers

Father Gerard E. Hammond, an 87-year-old Irish-American missionary with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, set aside his birth name 60 years ago. After he received his holy orders in 1960, he boarded a ship in San Francisco bound for South Korea, where he was rechristened with the Korean name “Ham Je-do.”

The book “Journey of a Missionary” has been published to mark the 60th anniversary of Father Hammond’s ordination. The book collects Hammond’s oral testimony, which was edited by Lee Hyang-gyu, Go Min-jeong, and Kim Hye-in on behalf of the Catholic Institute of Northeast Asia Peace (CINAP).

A mass of thanksgiving will be held on the 60th anniversary of Hammond's ordination at the Catholic Church of Repentance and Atonement in Tanhyeon Township, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, at 11 am on Aug. 13.

After a press conference on Aug. 12 held for the 60th anniversary, Ham sat down with the Hankyoreh at his residence at the South Korean branch of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in Seoul. Introducing himself as a “grandfather of 88” (under the Korean system of counting age), Hammond reflected on his six decades in the country in fluent Korean, throwing in the occasional witty remark.

Aside from his birthplace of Philadelphia, there are two other places that Hammond considers home. One is the Catholic Diocese of Cheongju, where he served for 30 years until stepping down from active service. The other is North Korea, where he wanted to spend his final years, under the right conditions.

“The Cheongju branch of the Han clan has genealogical records, but not the Cheongju branch of the Ham clan. Without those records, I’ll never be part of the aristocracy,” Hammond joked, referring to his Korean surname of “Ham.”

The priest expressed his affection for Cheongju by describing it wistfully as his “spiritual home.”

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the organization to which Hammond belongs, began their missionary work in Pyongyang, the current capital of North Korea, in 1923. Thinking that increasing exchange between South and North Korea might allow the organization to reopen its Pyongyang branch, Hammond had hoped to spend the rest of his life in Pyongyang. But more recently, that prospect has grown more unlikely, and he’s asked for his remains to be buried at the Catholic Diocese of Cheongju.

When Hammond first came to South Korea, it was one of the poorest countries in the world. Readers may well imagine the situation at the Sacred Heart Orphanage, on the outskirts of Cheongju, where Hammond was first assigned. There was a severe shortage of food, and even the friars had to work in an orchard to cover their expenses. In order to pitch in, Hammond taught English to students at Cheongju University. When he was reassigned to a Catholic church, he found the parishioners in even worse conditions. Many died of carbon monoxide poisoning as they burned coal briquettes to keep warm.

“The worst thing I remember was going to a cemetery for a funeral mass. This young woman with three or four kids had just lost her husband at the age of 30, and she said to me, ‘Father, how am I supposed to go on?’ There was nothing I could do to help her,” Hammond said.

“But later, I saw that needy people survived their difficulties because their neighbors looked after them and helped out. Everyone was poor back then, but they made it through the hard time together. People didn’t lock their front gates and kept the doors open for everyone, even strangers. Since everyone was always hungry, it became normal to ask others if they’d eaten, and people were always welcome to join a meal, even if they hadn’t been invited, and even if there wasn’t room at the table.”

“The lessons I learned in Korea were the kindness to share with others and the patience to endure difficulties. Koreans are a people who think of others before themselves. In the era of COVID-19, I think Koreans are demonstrating that strength to the world.”

“The important thing isn’t whether you go to church or even whether you’re a Catholic, Protestant, or Buddhist. What’s more important is whether you have the conscience that Koreans have always had,” Hammond said.

“Korean traditions were so appealing to me that I wanted to wear hanbok [traditional Korean attire] and become a Korean. I haven’t managed to become 100% Korean yet; I suppose I’m 80-90% there,” he added.

Hammond expressed his love for Korea by praising Koreans as “people who can do anything, people for whom nothing is impossible.”

“Back in the 1960s, the road from Cheongju to Seoul was unpaved, and trucks would often get a flat tire. Koreans would get out of their car and do what it took to fix you up. They’re really an amazing people.”

That was what convinced Hammond that Koreans had amazing potential. The first Korean he met was the recently deceased Bishop Emeritus Chang Yik of the Catholic Diocese of Chunchon (Chuncheon). Hammond and Chang were alums of the same minor seminary in the US, and Hammond said he got to see Chang shortly before his death. “We weren’t friends, but brothers,” the priest recalled, with tears in his eyes.

Even in their final meeting, shortly before Chang passed away, the two shared an unforgettable moment of humor. Hammond recalled how Chang had jokingly insisted that Hammond call him “older brother” because he’d been born three months earlier.

“Bishop Chang used to say that the most frightening thing happening to Koreans was their growing lack of interest in each other, and I agree with him. As the old saying goes, united we stand and divided we fall. When Koreans overcome their division and stand together, their infinite potential will manifest itself,” Hammond said.

Hammond has played a leading role in helping North Korea, making more than 60 trips to the country with the Eugene Bell Foundation. “From the perspective of North Korea, I guess I’m just another enemy with an American passport, just a Catholic priest and missionary who’s over the hill. The US, Japan, China, and Russia will no doubt pursue their respective interests, but Koreans in the North and South have spent five thousand years together. It may take some time, but if they can make contact, they’re sure to recover their commonalities,” the priest said, expressing his hope for mutual dialogue and peace.

“Jesus is present in the place of the greatest pain. That’s why we’re supposed to go help people in North Korea.”

By Cho Hyun, religion correspondent

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