SEOUL (Fides): Oblate Father Vincenzo Bordo—known in Korea as Father Kim Ha-jong— has urged the Catholic Church to expand street outreach ahead of World Youth Day [WYD] 2027. “There are an estimated 250,000 street children in Korea. That is an enormous number. So we said to ourselves: if they do not come to us, we will go to them,” he said.
Father Bordo pointed out that the scale of the problem led to the creation of Azit, a movement that sends staff and volunteers into the streets to reach young people and help them recover and reintegrate into society.
He described South Korea as “a rapidly changing society where new forms of poverty are constantly emerging.”
Azit teams travel through the city by bus from 4.00pm. to 11.00pm looking for young people living on the streets. Father Bordo said he is working to establish the initiative in every diocese in Korea and hopes it can become “a message for the universal Church.”
The priest explained, “Azit is Jesus’ method. When Jesus began his ministry, he did not build a church in Nazareth and wait for people to come. He went out onto the streets of Palestine to meet people and be with them.”
…When Jesus began his ministry, he did not build a church in Nazareth and wait for people to come. He went out onto the streets of Palestine to meet people and be with them
He said, “We should not wait for the most vulnerable people to come into Church structures. We have to go out and meet them where they are,” adding that preparations for WYD should also focus on young people on the margins.
Father Bordo has spent 36 years in pastoral ministry in Korea, working with people experiencing homelessness, young people who have run away from home, and elderly people living alone. His experiences are recounted in I’ll Be Waiting for You in Seoul, a book he is presenting in Italy in connection with the upcoming World Youth Day.
Shin Hyung-sik, Korea’s ambassador to the Holy See, said the gathering could be an opportunity for young people “to grow in faith and engage in cultural exchange” and share “a message of peace and solidarity.”
Father Bordo’s ministry also includes Casa di Anna, a centre that serves about 500 meals a day and has provided more than three million meals over the years. It also offers legal and medical assistance, free medicines, employment support, therapy programs and accommodation.
Ten residential homes have been established for street children, while a dormitory at the centre houses 30 homeless people.
Father Bordo said the book’s title also reflects the expectations of people on the margins.
“The book has this title because so many people are waiting for the pope, waiting for the young people who will come. But the poor are waiting too. They have their own hopes and expectations,” he said.
