Korean Jesuit Fr John Che-chon Chong SJ has been appointed as the new Director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) starting January 2022. Fr Chong has professional experience as an administrator, lecturer, and spiritual director.
He was born in Kwangju, South Korea in 1957, and studied Law at Seoul National University before joining the Society of Jesus in 1990. After his ordination in 1996, he pursued graduate studies in Ignatian Spirituality. In 2000, he obtained a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in spirituality at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain.
After his graduate studies, he returned to Korea and worked as assistant professor of spirituality and spiritual director at Kwangju Catholic University from 2000 to 2009, when he was appointed Socius to the Korean Provincial. He became Provincial of the Korean Province in 2014, a role he served in for six years. He is currently the Director of the Institute for Ignatian Spirituality, and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Gipum Nanum (Sharing of Joy) Foundation for poor countries.
Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) President Fr Tony Moreno SJ thanked Fr Chong “for his generosity, readiness, and availability for this very important mission”. EAPI is an important work of JCAP, tracing its history back over 65 years to when Jesuits were expelled from mainland China. It serves the local churches in Asia Pacific with its focus on pastoral formation in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. EAPI envisions a new way of being Church by offering priests, religious men and women, and laity a unique experience of learning and formation in community.
Fr Moreno also thanked Fr Paschal Yong-su Kim SJ, Provincial of Korea, Fr Peter O Pojol SJ, former EAPI Director, and Fr Johnny C Go SJ, EAPI Officer in Charge, as well as the members of the search committee, Fr Pojol (Chair), Dr Christina Kheng, and Fr Roger Champoux SJ.