SEOUL (UCAN) -- Twenty Catholic seminarians visited the headquarters and worship places of other Christian Churches as well as other religions to explore ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.

Venerable Younggong (right explains a point on Buddhism to seminarians from Kwangju Catholic University.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea (CBCK) organized the June 26-27 "Ecumenical Movement and Interreligious Dialogue with CBCK" for seminarians from Gwangju Catholic University. The seminarians stayed at the lodge at the CBCK building in Seoul, from where they went out on their visits.

CBCK executive secretary Father Peter Pai Young-ho told UCA News on June 30 that the bishops' conference organized the event so the seminarians could learn how to interact with people of other Churches and other religions, and treat such people as "close neighbors."

The priest underlined the importance of seminarians learning more about other religions, because "living in peace and harmony with people of other religions is a way of serving God."

He added that by visiting and having a meal together with people of other religions, the seminarians "could have fellowship and mutual exchange, which will be a huge asset for them as future Catholic pastors."

On June 26, the group visited the Seoul headquarters of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), an Anglican Church and an Orthodox Church.

The following day they visited Jogyesa Temple in Seoul, the head temple of Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist denomination. They also visited Sungkyunkwan, the headquarters of Korean Confucianism. High officials of the two religions explained their religious culture to the seminarians, who showed special interest in Buddhist monks' formation process.

Seminarian Thomas Yun Tai-jong told UCA News on June 27: "The ecumenical movement and interreligious dialogue have become important issues in the Church. Although we learn about it in the seminary, this exposure trip helps us experience it directly. While visiting the Anglican and Orthodox churches, he added, "I felt we are not different but have diverse ways of worshipping God, like one family with distinctive members."

In Yun's view, "acknowledging and respecting each other's traditions is the key point of the ecumenical movement." For dialogue to take place, he added, "we need to know other religions as well as the Catholic Church."

Venerable Younggong (right explains a point on Buddhism to seminarians from Kwangju Catholic University.

Deacon Andrew Lee Sang-wook told UCA News on June 27: "Although the schedule was short, I learned a lot. The teachings of each religion are not very different. We are pursuing the same thing: 'Love for people.' The only difference is the way of reaching out to the people and society."

Venerable Younggong, a Zen master at Jogyesa Temple, praised the Catholic Church for its openness to other religions. We need to "be interested" to learn from each other, he told UCA News on June 27, and "knowing others is one way to develop oneself and overcome one's weakness."

Father Augustine Lee Jeong-joo, dean of academic affairs of the Kwangju seminary, described the event as "a good chance for the seminarians to open their eyes to other religions. The seminary selected the 20 seminarians in the order of their application, since the lodge at the CBCK building can house only 20, he explained to UCA News.

As of 2007 the seminary had 90 seminarians from Kwangju archdiocese and Jeonju and Cheju dioceses. Kwangju archdiocese is based in Gwangju (formerly Kwangju), about 270 kilometers south of Seoul.

According to a CBCK official, the bishops' conference plans to hold the program annually in June for different major seminaries by turn. There are seven major seminaries in South Korea.

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