EAPI RESIDENTIAL STAFF
FR JOHN CHECHON CHONG, SJ
Director
Fr. John Chechon Chong, SJ was born in Kwangju, South Korea in 1957, and studied Law at Seoul National University before entering the Society of Jesus in 1990. He was ordained in 1996 and then pursued graduate studies in Ignatian Spirituality. In 2000, he obtained a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in spirituality from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain.
Upon returning to Korea, he taught spirituality and served as a spiritual director at Gwangju diocesan seminary from 2000 to 2009. While he was still at Gwangju diocesan seminary, he was appointed Socius to the Korean Provincial, a position he held from 2009-2013. Afterwards he served as the Formation Delegate of the Korean Province. In September 2014, he became the Provincial of the Korean Province where he served for six years. Before becoming the Director of EAPI in January 2022, he was the Director of the Institute for Ignatian Spirituality in Korea.
Fr Vincent Pham Dinh Khoan, SJ
Pastoral Program Coordinator / Spiritual Accompaniment
Born in Vietnam, Khoan Pham is a Jesuit since 1981. He studied architecture in both Saigon, Vietnam, and Quebec, Canada, and worked as an architect in a construction company, building residences, churches, and schools. Under challenging political circumstances at home, he studied philosophy, theology, and Ignatian Spirituality in Vietnam and Canada. As a priest, prior to his assignment to EAPI, he was spiritual director for seminarians, religious men and women. For some years, he was Formation Delegate and Provincial Assistant of the Jesuits in Vietnam. He was also missioned to evangelize ethnic minority groups (K’ho, Chru, H’mong) in the central highlands and northwestern part of Vietnam.
SR MERLE "Ley" I. SALAZAR, FDNSC
sabbatical Program Coordinator / Spiritual Accompaniment
Sr Ley, a Filipino born in Tarlac in 1968, is a member of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, an international missionary congregation founded in France in 1874. Prior to joining religious life in 1995, she was a Certified Public Accountant and worked as a manager for Budget and Financial Planning. She made her first profession in 1998.
As a religious, she served her Congregation in the areas of formation and administration. In addition to her training as formator, she also pursued graduate studies and earned a Masters in Religious Studies major in Scripture from the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies writing a thesis on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In 2011, she was elected to her Congregation’s General Council. While at the General Council, she was in charge of formation and the accompaniment of their lay members. She was in this role until September 2022.
After her time in Rome, she participated in the January 2023 EAPI Sabbatical program. She experienced EAPI as a sacred space of renewal where she received the gift of newness – a revitalized self, an expanded community of friends and a wider mission.