The Rev. Robert John Brennan, a New Zealand-born Catholic priest who dedicated six decades to serving the urban poor and marginalized in Korea, died Saturday. He was 84. According to the Missionary Society of Saint Columban’s Korea branch, Brennan died at 4 a.m. at a nursing home in Seoul. Also known by his Korean name Ahn Gwang-hoon, the priest was a towering figure in the nation’s social welfare history and was recognized as a "godfather to the poor." Born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1941, he joined the Missionary Society of Saint Columban in 1959. The organization is a prominent international Catholic missionary society that has been active in Korea for decades. He was ordained in 1965 and arrived in Korea the following year. He spent his early years in the Diocese of Wonju in Gangwon Province, where he witnessed the devastating effects of high-interest private loans on local residents. To combat this, he established the Jeongseon Credit Union in 1972. He also opened the St. Francisco Clinic to provide affordable medical care. His activism extended to human rights during the dicta