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Persecution Of Christians In North Korea
The persecution of Christians in North Korea is an ongoing and systematic human rights issue in North Korea. According to multiple resolutions which have been passed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the North Korean government considers religious activities political crimes, because they could challenge the personality cult of Kim Il-sung and his family. The Workers' Party of Korea also considers religion a tool of American imperialism and the North Korean state uses this argument to justify its activities. In 2002, it was estimated that there were 12,000 Protestants, and 800 Catholics in North Korea, but South Korean and international church-related groups gave considerably higher estimates, such as 406,000 Christians.Alton, 2013. p. 79. As of 2005 the agency "Religious Intelligence UK" estimated 3,846,000 believers of Korean shamanism, 3,245,000 Chondoists, 1,082,888 Buddhists, 406,000 Christians, and the rest non-believers.Chryssides, Geaves. 2007. p. 110Assoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Hong Yong-ho
Francis Hong Yong-ho (; born 12 October 1906 – death unknown, but acknowledged in June 2013) was a Roman Catholic prelate in North Korea who was imprisoned by the communist regime of Kim Il-sung in 1949 and later disappeared. After his disappearance, he was for many years listed as the Bishop of Pyongyang. Biography Born in Pyongyang on 12 October 1906, Francis Hong Yong-ho was ordained to the priesthood on 25 May 1933. Eleven years later, he was appointed the Vicar Apostolic of Heijō and Titular Bishop of ''Auzia'' by Pope Pius XII on 24 March 1944. His episcopal ordination took place on 29 June 1944, the principal consecrator being Bishop Bonifatius Sauer, O.S.B., with Bishops and Paul Roh Ki-nam as co-consecrators. He was imprisoned by the communist regime of Kim Il-sung in 1949 and later disappeared. According to Cardinal Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk, speaking in 2006: The Vicariate Apostolic of Heijō changed its name to Pyongyang on 12 July 1950, which was elevate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Execution
A public execution is a form of capital punishment which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend." This definition excludes the presence of only a small number of witnesses called upon to assure executive accountability. The purpose of such displays has historically been to deter individuals from defying laws or authorities. Attendance at such events was historically encouraged and sometimes even mandatory. While today most countries regard public executions with distaste, they have been practiced at some point in history nearly everywhere. At many points in the past, public executions were preferred to executions behind closed doors because of their capacity for deterrence. However, the actual efficacy of this form of terror is disputed. They also allowed the convicted the opportunity to make a final speech, gave the state the chance to display its power in front of those who fell under its jurisdiction, and granted the public what was considered to be a great spect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" (abbreviation "Bl.") before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds". History Local bishops had the power of beatifying until 1634, when Pope Urban VIII, in the apostolic constitution ''Cœlestis Jerusalem'' of 6 July, reserved the power of beatifying to the Holy See. Since the reforms of 1983, as a rule, one miracle must be confirmed to have taken place through the intercession of the person to be beatified. Miracles are almost always unexplainable medical healings, and are scientifically investigated by commissions comprising physicians and theologia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Saint Benedict
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedict. They are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule of Saint Benedict. Despite being called an order, the Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy but are instead organised as a collection of autonomous monasteries. The order is represented internationally by the Benedictine Confederation, an organisation set up in 1893 to represent the order's shared interests. They do not have a superior general or motherhouse with universal jurisdiction, but elect an Abbot Primate to represent themselves to the Holy See, Vatican and to the worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In the martyrdom narrative of the remembering community, this refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of an actor by an alleged oppressor. Accordingly, the status of the 'martyr' can be considered a posthumous title as a reward for those who are considered worthy of the concept of martyrdom by the living, regardless of any attempts by the deceased to control how they will be remembered in advance. Insofar, the martyr is a relational figure of a society's boundary work that is produced by collective memory. Originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term has come to be used in connection with people killed for a political cause. Most martyrs are consid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AsiaNews
''AsiaNews'' is an official press agency of the Catholic Church's Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). The editor-in-chief of AsiaNews is Father Bernardo Cervellera, a PIME missionary who also heads Agenzia Fides, the official news agency of the Vatican. Prominent British Bangladeshi journalist and human rights activist William Gomes worked for Asia news. Description News from AsiaNewsonline.com is republished by the Catholic press agencies MISNA and Zenit. Originally available in the Italian language, the website has since expanded into English and Chinese in 2003 to enhance the "missionary aspect of our news agency". AsiaNews's intended audience is Chinese university students, who it believes are "curi usabout Christianity" and may save China from being "a soulless market or... dictatorship". It describes its presence as "urgent" because of what it calls the "empowerment" of atheism in Chinese schools and the "persecution" of Christians in China. AsiaNews de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories, and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament. Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century Hellenistic Judaism in the Roman province of Judea. Jesus' apostles and their followers spread around the Levant, Europe, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the South Caucasus, Ancient Carthage, Egypt, and Ethiopia, despite significant initial persecution. It soon attracted gentile God-fearers, which led to a departure from Jewish customs, and, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Korean Refugees
Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are referred to as North Korean defectors by the North Korean regime. Alternative terms in South Korea, where the defectors often end up, include "northern refugees" ( ko, 탈북자, ''talbukja'' or , ''talbukmin'') and "new settlers" (, ''saeteomin''). During the North Korean famine of the 1990s, there was an increase in defections, reaching a peak in 1998 and 1999. Some of the main reasons for the falling number of defectors, especially since 2000, are the strict border patrols and inspections, forced deportations, and the rising cost of defection. The most common strategy of North Korean defectors is to cross the Chinese border into Jilin and Liaoning provinces in northeast China. About 76% to 84% of defectors interviewed in China or South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts carried out by the state, but others include non-state organizations. Torture has been carried out since ancient times. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Western countries abolished the official use of torture in the judicial system, but torture continued to be used throughout the world. A variety of methods of torture are used, often in combination; the most common form of physical torture is beatings. Since the twentieth century, many torturers have preferred non-scarring or psychological methods to provide deniability. Torturers are enabled by organizations that facilitate and encourage their behavior. Most victims of torture are poor and marginalized people suspected of crimes, although torture against political prisoners or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prisons In North Korea
North Korean prisons have conditions that are unsanitary, life-threatening and are comparable to historical concentration camps. A significant number of prisoners have died each year, since they are subject to torture and inhumane treatment. Public and secret executions of prisoners, even children, especially in cases of attempted escape, are commonplace. Infanticides (and infant killings upon birth) also often occur. The mortality rate is exceptionally high, because many prisoners die of starvation, illnesses, work accidents, or torture. During the height of the North Korean famine, the government’s response was to set up many low-level labor camps for those who were caught crossing the North Korean-Chinese border or were repatriated from China. These labor training facilities were also used in response to the black market activity that resulted in people searching for food throughout the countryside (Haggard & Noland, 2012). In 2004, these “labor training” facilities were m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
