In 2015, when Father Hwang Seokmo ended his term as the director of the headquarters of his religious order in Seoul, he requested the superior send him as a missionary to Timor-Leste.
The 57-year-old priest, a member of the South Korea-based Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs, said the tiny Catholic-majority country, also known as East Timor, drew his attention as “a fertile land” to cultivate the spirit and spirituality of the congregation.
“East Timor caught my eye. It was an area that was planned to contribute to the Asian region with the spirit and spirituality of the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs and to develop vocations,” Father Hwang told the Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation of Korea (CPBC).
Since his arrival in Timor-Leste, Father Hwang has overseen the Sebastiao Gomes Monastery and serves some 8,000 Catholics in Aileu parish in the Alieu Requidoe region, about 1,500 meters above sea level.