Citizen Kim
About to be ordained a priest, Deacon Kim becomes a naturalized American
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
When Deacon Bede Kim is ordained as a Catholic priest in four months, he will be doing so as a citizen of the United States.
After 14 years in this country, Deacon Kim was sworn in as a U.S. citizen Dec. 5.
“I am very relieved,” said Deacon Kim, a native of Seoul, South Korea. “Becoming a citizen will make it easier to study.”
He received his “green card” in 2000, and applied for citizenship in July 2006 after hearing that it was becoming more difficult to obtain citizenship.
The naturalization process included a civics examination, which all applicants must pass with some exceptions, before they take the Oath of Allegiance. During the exam, Deacon Kim had to answer several questions and write a sentence in English. Among the questions: What color (white) are the stars in the American flag? What it is the name of the group (cabinet) that advises the president?
Coincidentally, the immigration official who administered the civics exam was a graduate of Seton Hall University, South Orange. Deacon Kim is taking pastoral courses in his final semester at the university’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology.
Deacon Kim was among more than 250 people who participated in the swearing-in ceremony in Newark.
Kim, 26, and his brother, John, 25, were raised in Seoul by their father, Andrew, a self-employed artist, and their mother, Agnes.
The family moved to Edison in 1992 because Deacon Kim’s father wanted to study abroad. “We originally planned to stay here for about two years, but later decided to stay here instead,” he said.
When Deacon Kim began the sixth grade in Edison, he couldn’t speak
English. However, English as a second language courses helped him overcome the barrier quickly.
“It wasn’t really that tough to learn English,” Kim said. “I was looked at
differently than other kids, but it wasn’t that difficult.”
Kim said his younger brother is also going through the process of becoming a U.S. citizen.
Deacon Kim was still using the first name Hong when he became the first Korean-American ordained to the transitional diaconate in the diocese at Sacred Heart Church, New Brunswick, March 25. Deacon Kim changed to it Bede when he became a U.S. citizen because it is his baptismal name and he has a great respect for St. Bede, he said.
In addition to continuing his studies at the seminary, Deacon Kim assists at weekend Masses at Our Lady of Peace Church, Fords. He will receive his first assignment as a priest in the diocese the day he is ordained.
Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski, in consultation with the Office of Vocations office and the Priest Personnel Board, will decide what Deacon Kim’s first assignment will be, said Father Randall J. Vashon, vocations director.
“There is a little bit of nervousness but at the same time I am very relaxed and I can’t wait to get ordained,” he said.
Deacon Kim is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood June 2 in St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen.
Deacon Kim’s immigrant experience may benefit his priestly ministry, Father Vashon said.
“He will find that individuals will seek him out as having been someone who has gone through the process of citizenship,” Father Vashon said. “Also, he can certainly be a bridge to and from the Korean Catholic Community in our diocese.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law