SPOTLIGHT 25/03/22 Columban priest, Korea's 'godfather of the poor,' dies at 84

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The missionary was granted South Korean citizenship in recognition of his lifelong work with the poor

Father Robert John Brennan, also known as Ahn Gwang-hoon. (Photo: Missionary Society of St. Columban)

By UCA News reporter

Published: March 23, 2026 12:10 PM GMT

Updated: March 23, 2026 12:16 PM GMT

Columban missionary Robert John Brennan, who worked for more than six decades among South Korea’s marginalized communities and came to be called “the godfather of the poor,” died on March 22. He was 84.

Brennan died in a hospital in the national capital, Seoul, where he was receiving treatment, the Korea Herald reported.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Brennan came to South Korea in 1966, a year after his ordination. He spent most of his time supporting those left behind during Korea’s rapid industrialization and economic growth.

In 2020, the South Korean government granted him citizenship in recognition of his lifelong work with the poor and vulnerable.

During life in South Korea, Brennan was involved in activities that helped marginalized people.

In 1972, he founded the Gangwon Province’s first credit union to protect residents from predatory money lenders who charged exorbitant interest rates.

Besides forming the credit union during his 11-year term as a parish priest in Wonju, he also opened a health facility —St. Francis Clinic — there to provide medical care to the local people.

Brennan relocated to Seoul in the 1980s and served at the local church there.

In 1988, he helped relocate residents displaced from areas earmarked for a government urban redevelopment drive ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

In 1992, he moved into a neighborhood in Seoul to live alongside residents facing eviction. In 1998, he established the Solmoe Cooperative to support low-income farming communities.

He also led an organization supporting the unemployed during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

During his final days, Brennan chose to live among the ordinary residents rather than in the official clergy housing, the Korea Herald reported.

Brennan was awarded the Seoul Social Welfare Grand Prize in 2012 and the Asan Social Welfare Award in 2014.

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul is slated to preside over his funeral mass on the morning of March 24 at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.

Brennan will be buried, as he wished, at the Catholic cemetery in the Diocese of Wonju, where he began his mission.