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The Stella d'Italia award consists of special grade for a Knight of Grand Cross decorated with a grand cordon; first grade for a Knight of the Grand Cross; second grade for a Grand Officer; third grade for a Commander; fourth grade for an Official; and fifth grade for a Knight.
The medals are awarded to Italians or foreign citizens who have made a special contribution to promoting friendship and cooperative relations.
On May 6, 2019, soprano Jo Su-mi received the goodwill medal of the Knight, and on December 10, 2019, professor Choi Kyung-ran of Kookmin University received it as well.
On Jan.26, 2021, our Pauline sister Dorotea Elena D'Oto received the fourth grade for an Official of the Star of Italy.
Sister Dorotea was born in Italy on Oct.26, 1931, and came to Korea as a missionary in 1966 after the perpetual profession on March 19, 1956.
In the 1960s, 15 foreign missionaries came to Korea to lay the foundation of the Daughters of St. Paul. Among them, only one missionary sister Dorotea is still staying here in Seoul.
As a missionary, she spent her life in Korea through various fields such as visiting propaganda, the collective mission, renting and screening of films with a projector, the local superior and the delegate superior, provincial bursar and house management, and doing household work according to the needs.
Who would understand all the struggles of a missionary who tried her best to adjust herself to the culture and language of a foreign country? No words are proper to describe all the hardships and obstacles she had to face and undergo in the first period of the foundation.
The motivation for the honor is as follows: "In a time when there were so many poor people, Sr. Maria Dorotea Elena D'Oto devoted her life to spreading the teachings of the Catholic Church as a missionary in Korea, especially in the capital city of Seoul, Daegu, and Gwangju.
She greatly contributed to the formation of the early community of the Daughters of St. Paul, and she still lives in Seoul as a good example of life. Another motivation for awarding this Medal of Honor is to remember and thank the person who lets us see things that are easy to overlook and that we don't want to see. This sister who is with us right now is the one who testified this."
Luigi Di Maio, minister of foreign affairs, and Sergio Mattarella, president of Italy gave it to her on May 28, 2020. And Federico Failla, the Italian ambassador to Korea, was supposed to visit our Congregation on Dec. 13, 2020, when the closing thanksgiving Mass of the 60th foundation of the Daughters of St. Paul in Korea was celebrated by the Most Rev. Lasaro Heung-seek You, the Diocesan Bishop of Daejeon.
But the delivery of the medal was postponed due to COVID-19. And finally on Jan.26 this year, Ambassador Federico Failla visited us together with Nicola Del Medico, his first secretary, and Monsignor Mario Codamo, Councilor of the Italian embassy.
The author is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (fsp.pauline.or.kr.) living and giving the Good News to the world by means of social communication.
