On Sundays, from around 10 a.m., the parking lot of St. Basil Church in Los Angeles' Koreatown area begins to be filled by cars driven by Koreans. They come early enough to secure seats for the Korean language Mass at 10:30 a.m. By the time the service begins, the sanctuary is packed with standing room only.
The Korean-speaking congregation is the largest group, which shares the church with two other ethnic groups - English- and Spanish-speaking.
When I see this prosperous group, which has grown from a few hundred 17 years ago to more than 1,500 now, I think of the church's former pastor, Father Francis Meskill, who died on Sept. 5, 1998 at age 63.
The Los Angeles riots, whose 15th anniversary occurred April 29, was the worst tragedy Koreans had suffered in their 100-long immigrant history. Many became the target of violence and more than 2,000 Korean-owned businesses were destroyed.
For some Koreans, however, the suffering has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, thanks to Father Meskill, a lasting benefactor not only to the Korean parishioners of the church but to the whole immigrant community. He was the best friend to Korean immigrants, who needed a caring person in the English-speaking community to connect them to mainstream people and policymakers.
Born in Ireland, and educated and ordained in the United States, Father Frank won high esteem in the Southern California Catholic community not only as a religious leader but as an educator, scholar and essayist. In the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, he used his position to help Korean immigrants overcome isolation.
But, unlike many politicians and community leaders - Korean and non-Korean - who sought instant credit for their works, Father Frank did not tell what he did. As a result, I learned of his caring ministry belatedly after his death.
The relationship between Koreans and this eminent priest began in earnest in the summer of 1989, when several hundred Koreans offered Mass in their language at St. Basil's, a spectacular edifice in the mid-Wilshire District.
Columban Father Anthony Mortell, former pastor at St. Gregory Nazianzen Church's Korean community in the heart of Koreatown, said he cannot forget his "gratefulness" to Father Frank's receptiveness to his request that St. Basil's establish a Korean congregation, to help alleviate the overcrowded situation at St. Gregory. (St. Paul and St. Agnes parishes also celebrate Korean-language Masses.)
When the Los Angles riots broke out, Father Frank quietly decided to help Koreans overcome alienation from the mainstream Americans.
On the Sunday after the riots, he not only asked his parishioners to contribute to a second collection for riot victims, but offered the church's main sanctuary for the Korean language Sunday Mass at 11 a.m. Prior to that, Korean Mass was celebrated in the downstairs chapel.
Father Thomas Meskill, one of Father Frank's two priest brothers, who had been celebrating the Mass at the St. Basil's as a guest presider, recalled how this decision was made. While watching on television Korean-owned stores being "picked-out and preyed upon," Father Thomas said, the two brothers "became anxious about the impression that Koreans were being segregated against."
"Both he and I felt a great need to make Koreans realize they are an integral part of the parish," Father Thomas said. "Instantaneously I suggested, 'Why don't we bring them upstairs? I'll say the (11 a.m. English) Mass downstairs.'"
In the fall of 1993, Father Frank played a pivotal role in bringing a statute of St. Andrew Kim Daekon to Southern California as the first Asian saint to stand in an American Catholic cemetery.
Although I covered the unveiling of the statue, which took place at the Holy Cross Cemetery near the Los Angeles International Airport, I didn't know what Father Frank's role had been in the endeavor.
It was a few days after his death that I found out he had written letters to the administrators in the Los Angeles Archdiocese to support the unconventional proposal to set up a Korean saint's statue. He wrote: "I am deeply aware of the suffering among the Koreans during the riots, and actions which make them feel a welcome part of our community are helpful at this time," adding the symbolic action would "impart to it a touch of home (for the Koreans)."
I do believe that Father Frank now rests in a better place with the Lord he so faithfully served. Yet, I cannot help but wish that he could have been with us another 10 or 15 more years to help Korean immigrants who suffer from language and cultural barriers. It pains me that I never said. "Thank you" to him. Angela Kapson Lee, former editor of The Korea Times English Edition, Los Angeles, is a contributing editor of the Pacific News Service, a San Francisco-based news agency. |