Stephen (often rendered as Latin Stephanus) Kim Sou-hwan (; May 8, 1922 – February 16, 2009) was a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the Roman Catholic Church and the former archbishop of Seoul, South Korea. Having been an iconic figure in South Korea's bloody and tumultuous transition from military rule to democracy, he was widely respected across all sections in South Korean society.

Early years

He was born in

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, modern-day South Korea, and attended high school in Seoul. He studied philosophy at Sophia University in Tokyo from 1941 to 1944, and at Catholic University of Korea in Seoul from 1947 to 1951, when he graduated. After serving briefly as a parish priest in

Andong Andong () is a city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong River flows through the city. Andong is a m ...

and then as a secretary in the

Archdiocese of Daegu The Archdiocese of Daegu (previously known as Taiku or Taegu) is a particular church of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. The Archbishop of Daegu, whose seat is at Kyesan Cathedral in Daegu, is Metropolitan bishop for the Dioceses of Andong, ...

, he traveled to Germany to study sociology at

Münster University Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state dist ...

from 1956 to 1963.

Career

Kim was raised to the rank of cardinal-priest of ''

San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle The Church of Saint Felix of Cantalice at Centocelle ( it, San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle, la, Sancti Felicis a Cantalicio ad Centumcellas, es, San Féliciano de Cantalicio a Centocelle) is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome located i ...

'' by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of April 28, 1969, having become the archbishop of Seoul in 1968 after being the bishop of Masan since 1966. At the age of 46, he was the youngest member of the College of Cardinals at that time. He received the Mugunghwa medal in 1970, and participated in the two conclaves of 1978. During

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

and his successor's military dictatorship of the '70s and the '80s, the Korean Catholic Church under Kim's leadership was highlighted as a focal point of South Korea's democratization movement. In 1998, Cardinal Kim retired as the archbishop of Seoul, shortly after serving as president-delegate of the Special Assembly for Asia of the World Synod of Bishops. On the death of Franz Koenig in 2004, he became the senior member of the college in terms of service, as he was the first of the three surviving members elevated in 1969 on the list of that consistory. However, Kim was ill at the time, and in the ceremonies of the sede vacante on the death of Pope John Paul II, the duties of '' protopresbyter'' (senior cardinal priest) were instead carried out by Eugenio de Araujo Sales, another 1969 cardinal who was Kim's junior as cardinal but senior as a priest and as a bishop. Having reached the age of 80 in 2002, he did not participate in the ensuing conclave as he was no longer eligible to vote in papal elections. Cardinal Kim did arrive for the papal inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI and there he did discharge the duties of the cardinal ''protopresbyter''.

Death

From 2007, Kim's health gradually deteriorated, and he was seldom seen in public, the last time being the 2008 Christmas Midnight Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral. He died in Seoul on February 16, 2009, from respiratory problems. During a four-day lying in state period some 400,000 Catholic mourners were said to have filed past his coffin in the city's Myeongdong Cathedral. He was buried on February 20. As per his will, he donated his organs, and the Cardinal's eyes were quickly used in two successful cornea transplants.

Written

* 이 땅에 평화를 - 김수환 추기경과의 대화, 1988 * 참으로 사람답게 살기위하여 - 김수환 추기경의 세상 사는 이야기 (사람과 사람, 1998) * 우리가 서로 사랑한다는 것, 1999 * 너희와 모든 이를 위하여, 1999

References

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External links