Fr. Klement was born Oct. 7, 1958, in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began his Salesian consecrated life during the former totalitarian regime. He made his first profession in 1982, then left his country for Italy, crossing the Alps to pursue his second vocation as a missionary ad gentes for the Africa Project. At his perpetual profession in Rome in 1985, he was incardinated at the Vice-Province of South Korea, and immediately after his priestly ordination on May 25, 1986, he began his missionary life in Seoul on August 11, 1986.
During his 16 years of missionary life in South Korea (1986-2002) Fr. Klement was engaged in pastoral care for at-risk youth, in a secondary school as a catechist and then as rector of Seoul's "Mother House" of Daerim dong; in 1996 he was appointed Superior of the Vice-Province of the Holy Korean Martyrs.
During the 25th General Chapter (2002) Fr. Klement was elected as the first Councilor for the newly formed East Asia-Oceania Region. After six years, he was elected at GC26 (2008) as General Councilor for Missions. Then, at GC27 (2014) he was again elected as Councilor for the East Asia-Oceania Region. After GC28, in May 2020, the Rector Major appointed him as Extraordinary Visitor "ad nutum et pro tempore," and to date, he has been making the Extraordinary Visitation to the Vice-Province of Zambia (ZMB) and the Provinces of Poland-Pila (PLN) and East Africa (AFE).
