Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul (Latin: Archidioecesis Seulensis, Korean: 서울 대교구) is a Metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church comprising the metropolitan area of Seoul, South Korea, whose province comprises parts of South Korea (which has two more provinces) and all North Korea, yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Archdiocese of Seoul

Archidioecesis Seulensis

서울 대교구
Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Mother church)
Location
CountrySouth Korea
Statistics
Area17,349 km2 (6,698 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2017)
10,1481,166[1]
1,534,899[2] (15.07%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
CathedralCathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Seoul
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
ArchbishopAndrew Yeom Sou-jeong
SuffragansDiocese of Chuncheon
Diocese of Daejeon
Diocese of Hamhung
Diocese of Incheon
Diocese of Pyongyang
Diocese of Suwon
Diocese of Uijeongbu
Diocese of Wonju
Auxiliary BishopsBasil Cho Kyu-man
Timothy Yu Gyoung-chon
Peter Chung Soon-taek
Benedictus Son Hee-Song
Bishops emeritusNicolas Cheong Jin-suk Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus (2006-2012)
Map
Website
aos.catholic.or.kr

Its Metropolitan bishop as the Archbishop of Seoul resides at his Myeongdong Cathedral in Jung-gu, Seoul. The Archbishop of Seoul is also the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Pyongyang in North Korea. As the episcopal see is the oldest one in Korea and that of its capital city, he is often considered to be so called the Primate of Korea, though the official title has not been expressly granted by the Holy See by canonical decree.

There are 57 Catholic secretly active parishes in North Korea, but due to the current regime in place, no Catholic priests are permitted permanent residency at current time.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 1,472,815 Catholics (14.5% of 10,143,645 total) on 17,349 km² in 229 parishes and 183 missions with 908 priests (683 diocesan, 225 religious), 2,282 religious (445 brothers, 1,837 sisters) and 266 seminarians.

List of territorial losses
  • (Background) Pope Leo XIII was the first to approve to separate the community from the control of diocese of Beijing and assigned priests from the Paris Foreign Missions Society but never went due to the Anti-Christian sentiment and persecutions during that time.
  • Pope Gregory XVI granted a Papal bull declaring it as an official See on 9 September 1831, referring to it as the Apostolic Vicariate of Korea 조선 / Corea (Curiate Italian) / 朝鮮 (正體中文), on territory split off from the then Diocese of Peking, of what used to be part of Imperial China.
  • It was renamed on 8 April 1911 as Apostolic Vicariate of Seoul 서울 / 漢城 (正體中文), when it also lost territory to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Taiku (Daegu).
  • It lost more territories, beginning on 8 May 1920 to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan
  • On 17 March 1927, it lost again to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Hpyeng-yang
  • On 25 April 1939, it lost again to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Shunsen.
  • It was again officially renamed on 12 July 1950 after its See as Apostolic Vicariate of Seul.
  • It lost territories again on 23 June 1958 to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Cheongju and the Apostolic Vicariate of Daijeon,
  • On 6 June 1961, it lost again to make the Apostolic Vicariate of Incheon, all three now have Suffragan bishops.
  • The diocese was raised to the level of Metropolitan Archdiocese on 10 March 1962.[3]
  • It lost again on 7 October 1963 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Suwon
  • It lost again on 24 June 2004 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Uijeongbu, now both its suffragans.

The diocese has received two official Papal visits from Pope John Paul II in May 1984 and October 1989 and from Pope Francis in August 2014.

Ecclesiastical province

The Metropolitan's ecclesiastical province comprises his own Archdiocese and the following suffragan bishoprics, mostly in South Korea :

Ordinaries

Apostolic Vicars of Korea

Apostolic Vicars of Seoul
  • Gustave-Charles-Marie Mutel, M.E.P. (1911-1933), appointed Archbishop (personal title) in 1926
  • Adrien-Joseph Larribeau, M.E.P. (1933-1942), appointed Apostolic Vicar and later Bishop of Daijeon
  • Paul Roh Ki-nam (1942-1962)

Archbishops of Seoul
  • Paul Roh Ki-nam (1962-1967)
  • Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (1968-1998)
  • Cardinal Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk (1998-2012)
  • Cardinal Andrew Yeom Sou-jeong (2012–present)

Coadjutor Bishops
  • Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Ferréol, M.E.P. (1838-1843)
  • Saint Siméon-François Berneux, M.E.P. (1844-1854)
  • Saint Antoine-Marie-Nicolas Daveluy, M.E.P. (1855-1866)
  • Marie-Jean-Gustave Blanc, M.E.P. (1877-1884)
  • Émile-Alexandre-Joseph Devred, M.E.P. (1920-1926), never succeeded to see
  • Adrien-Joseph Larribeau, M.E.P. (1926-1933)

Auxiliary Bishops
  • Paul Kim Ok-kyun (1985)
  • Peter Kang Woo-il (1985-2002)
  • Andrew Yeom Sou-jeong (2001-2012), appointed Archbishop of Seoul
  • Basil Cho Kyu-man (2006–2016)
  • Peter Chung Soon-taek (2014–present)
  • Timothy Yu Gyoung-chon (2014–present)
  • Benedict Son Hee-Song (2015–present)
  • Job Koo Yobi (2017–present)

See also
  • List of Catholic Dioceses in Korea

References
  1. http://aos.catholic.or.kr/main-v02/Today/T_1_1.asp
  2. http://aos.catholic.or.kr/main-v02/Today/T_1_1.asp
  3. "Archdiocese of Seoul". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.

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