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The funeral mass for Belgian-born priest Father Didier t‘Serstevens

“When he was asked about how it felt to receive South Korean citizenship in 2016, he said, ‘It’s a really great present, and I’m grateful to be thought of as a Korean.’ He said, ‘My first love was Buan, my first assignment [as a priest], and my home is Imsil, which was my second assignment. I will stay in Korea forever.’” Buan and Imsil are both countries in North Jeolla Province.

The funeral mass of Belgian-born Catholic priest Father Didier t'Serstevens, also known by his Korean name of Ji Jeong-hwan, was held at a cathedral in Jeonju at 10 am on Apr. 16. Ji was known not only for his love of Korea, but also for being the “father of cheese” in Imsil County.

Father Park Seong-pal, chief assistant of the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jeonju, described the 61 years that Ji served as a priest and the 60 years that he lived in Korea. On Apr. 15, Ji was given the Order of Civil Merit, Peony Medal, for dedicating his entire life to farmers and people with disabilities and for launching Imsil’s cheese industry.

More than a thousand people attended the funeral mass on Tuesday. As story after story was told about Ji’s life of holiness, people in the audience wept, their hands pressed together.

also known by his Korean name of Ji Jeong-hwan

During the sermon, Father John Kim Son-tae, bishop of the Jeonju diocese, summarized Ji’s life, most of which was spent in Korea, by focusing on five of his accomplishments. These were his reclamation of land in Buan for poor farmers without modern equipment, his creation of the cheese industry in the Imsil region despite serious obstacles, his establishment of the Rainbow Family rehabilitation community for people with serious disabilities, the donation of his entire fortune of 789 million won (US$695,120) to create a scholarship program that ultimately helped 571 disabled students, and his translation of a history of the Korean church into French after his retirement in 2003.

“This easygoing and loving person dedicated himself to the alienated and the suffering. In contrast with ordinary people, he stood up to the strong and had no shortage of compassion for the weak. We should learn from the example he showed as he took up his cross and followed Jesus,” Father Kim said.

Kim related a meeting he’d had with Ji this past January. “Ji told me that we need to bring hope to our neighbors instead of despair. He told me that whatever difference he has made has been the providence and the plan of God. We too should live a life of love and dedication to our neighbors in need.”

At the funeral service, Ji’s niece, named Anita, greeted the attendees in Korean and then expressed her gratitude to Koreans for treating her uncle like family during his 60 years in the country. The funeral mass lasted for about one and a half hours.

On Tuesday afternoon, following cremation, Ji’s remains were buried in a cemetery for clergymen at Chimyeongjasan Holy Ground, near the office of the Jeonju diocese.

By Park Im-keun, North Jeolla correspondent

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