John A. Choi Jae-seon (January 7, 1912 – June 3, 2008) was a South Korean

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Jae-seon was born in

Ulsan, South Korea Ulsan (), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring ...

, and was ordained a priest on June 11, 1938 in the Diocese of Pusan. Jae-seon was appointed a vicar apostolic for the Diocese of Pusan as well as Titular Bishop of Fussala on January 26, 1957 and was ordained on May 26, 1957. He was appointed bishop of Diocese of Pusan on March 10, 1962 but resigned on September 19, 1973 after being appointed

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Tanaramusa. Jae-Seon died on June 3, 2008 at age of 96. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

(1956-1975) he was known for giving Saint Christopher medals and Rosaries and giving them out to American G.I.s on R & R in Japan (also to GIs stationed as peacekeeping forces in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

). The medals were inscribed with the veteran's initials. It was erroneously believed that the Bishop gave out Saint Christopher medals during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

but he wasn't a bishop until 1957 (4 years after the cease fire was signed).

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy
* 1915 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in South Korea Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Busan {{asia-RC-bishop-stub

See also

External links