The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seoul (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Seulensis'', ko, 서울대교구) is a

Metropolitan archdiocese A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. ...

of the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

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 ...

comprising the metropolitan area of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

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 ...

, whose province comprises parts of South Korea (which has two more provinces) and all

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its

Metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

as the ''Archbishop of Seoul'' resides at his

Myeongdong Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception ( la, Ecclesia Cathedralis Nostrae Dominae Immaculatae Conceptionis; ), informally known as Myeongdong Cathedral, is the national cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of ...

Jung-gu, Seoul Jung District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Jung has a population of 131,452 (2013) and has a geographic area 9.96 km2 (3.85 sq mi), making it both the least-populous and the smallest district of Seoul, and is divided into ...

. The Archbishop of Seoul is also the

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Diocese of Pyongyang in

. There are 57 Catholic secretly active parishes in North Korea, but due to the current regime in place, no

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

s are permitted permanent residency at the present time.

Statistics

, it pastorally served 1,534,887 Catholics (15.7% of 9,765,869 total) on 17,349 km² in 232 parishes with 954 priests.

List of territorial losses

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

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 The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...

but never went due to the Anti-Christian sentiment and persecutions during that time. *

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

granted a Papal bull declaring it as an official See on 9 September 1831, referring to it as the '' Apostolic Vicariate of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

'' 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 The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

. * 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 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 Andon ...

(

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 ...

). * 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 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyongyang is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in North Korea. Its only official bishop, Francis Hong Yong-ho, was imprisoned by the government of the North Korea led by Kim Il-sung in 1949 and ...

* 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 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Incheon ( la, Dioecesis Inchonensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church located in Incheon, South Korea. The diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Seoul. History On 6 June 1961 Pope John XXI ...

, all three now have

Suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

bishops. * The diocese was raised to the level of ''Metropolitan Archdiocese'' on 10 March 1962. * It lost again on 7 October 1963 to establish the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Suwon The Diocese of Suwon ( Lat.: ''Dioecesis Suvonensis'') is a particular church of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. The seat of the Bishop of Suwon is at Jeongjadong Cathedral in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Pope Paul VI created the ep ...

* 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 visit Papal travel outside Rome has been historically rare, and voluntary travel of the pope was non-existent for the first 500 years. Pope John Paul II (1978–2005) undertook more pastoral trips than all his predecessors combined. Pope Francis (2013� ...

s from

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in May 1984 and October 1989 and from

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

in August 2014.

Ecclesiastical province

The Metropolitan's

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

comprises his own Archdiocese and the following

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

bishoprics, mostly in

: *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Chuncheon The Diocese of Chunchon (also romanized ''Chuncheon'' and ''Ch’unch’on'', la, Dioecesis Chuncheonensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in South Korea. A suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolit ...

춘천 *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Daejeon The Roman Catholic Diocese of Daejeon ( la, Dioecesis Taeieonensis, Hangul: 천주교 대전교구) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic church in South Korea. It is the diocese for Daejeon, South Korea. Augustinus Kim Jong-soo has be ...

대전 *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamhung The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamhung is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in North Korea. Originally erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan in 1920, the name has been changed twice, once to Kankoensis o Hameunge ...

함흥 (in

) * Roman Catholic Diocese of Incheon 인천 *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyongyang The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyongyang is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in North Korea. Its only official bishop, Francis Hong Yong-ho, was imprisoned by the government of the North Korea led by Kim Il-sung in 1949 and ...

평양 (in North Korea) *

수원 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Uijeongbu 의정부 *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Wonju The Catholic Diocese of Wonju ( la, Dioecesis Voniuensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in located in Wonju, South Korea. It is a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Seoul. History On 22 March 1965 Pope Paul VI established t ...

원주

Leadership

Ordinaries

Apostolic Vicars of Korea

Barthélemy Bruguière Barthélemy Bruguière (February 12, 1792 – October 20, 1835) was the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul#Apostolic Vicars of Korea, Apostolic Vicar of Korea and former Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangkok#Vicariate Apostolic of Siam, Coa ...

, M.E.P. (1831–1835) * Saint

Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert (23 March 1796 – 21 September 1839), sometimes called Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert and affectionately known in Korea as Bishop Imbert Bum (Korean name: ''Bum Se-hyeong'') was a French missionary bishop in Asia. Mo ...

, M.E.P. (1836–1839) * Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Ferréol, M.E.P. (1843–1853) * Saint Siméon-François Berneux, M.E.P. (1854–1866) * Saint Antoine-Marie-Nicolas Daveluy, M.E.P. (1866) * Félix-Clair Ridel, M.E.P. (1869–1884) * Marie-Jean-Gustave Blanc, M.E.P. (1884–1890) * Gustave-Charles-Marie Mutel, M.E.P. (1890–1911)

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 Paul Marie Kinam Roh (22 January 1902 – 25 June 1984) was Apostolic Vicar of Seoul in 1940–1962 and then Archbishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul in 1962–1967. He was noted as Pro-American and Anti-Communist in the Syngman Rhe ...

(1942–1962)

Archbishops of Seoul

* Paul Roh Ki-nam (1962–1967) * Victorinus Youn Kong-hi (1967–1968;

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

) * Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (1968–1998) * Cardinal

Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk (; 7 December 1931 – 27 April 2021) was a South Korean Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Seoul from 1998 until he retired in 2012. He was previously Bishop of Cheongju from 1970 to ...

(1998–2012) * Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung (2012–2021) *

Peter Chung Soon-taick Peter Chung Soon-taick, (; born 5 August 1961) is a South Korean prelate of the Catholic Church. Since December 2021, he has been the Metropolitan Archbishop of Seoul and Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang. Biography Early life Chung w ...

, O.C.D. (2021–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

Joseph Kyeong Kap-ryong Joseph Kyeong Kap-ryong ( ko, 경갑룡 요셉; 11 March 1930 – 16 December 2020) was a South Korean Roman Catholic bishop. Kyeong Kap-ryong was born in South Korea and was ordained to the priesthood in 1962. He served as titular bishop of ' ...

(1977–1984), appointed Bishop of Daejeon *

Paul Kim Ok-kyun Paul Kim Ok-kyun ( ko, 김옥균 바오로, December 9, 1925 – March 1, 2010) was the Roman Catholic titular bishop of Girba and the auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul, South Korea South Korea, officially the Repu ...

(1985–2001) * Peter Kang U-il (1985–2002), appointed Bishop of Cheju *

Andreas Choi Chang-mou Andreas Choi Chang-mou is the fourth Archbishop of Gwangju. Born in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Korea in 1936, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Seoul on June 9, 1963. On February 3, 1994, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul ...

(1994–1999), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Gwangju *

Joseph Lee Han-taek Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(2001–2004), appointed Bishop of Uijeongbu *Andrew Yeom Soo-jung (2001–2012), appointed Archbishop of Seoul *

Lucas Kim Woon-hoe Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk" * Lucas (album), ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All C ...

(2002–2010), appointed Bishop of Chunchon * Basil Cho Kyu-man (2006–2016), appointed Bishop of Wonju *

, O.C.D. (2014–2021), appointed Archbishop of Seoul * Timothy Yu Gyoung-chon (2014–present) *

Benedictus Son Hee-song Benedictus Son Hee-song (; born 28 January 1957) is a South Korean prelate of the Catholic Church. Since August 2015, he has served as an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul, Archdiocese of Seoul. Biography Early life ...

(2015–present) * Job Koo Yobi (2017–present)

References

Sources and external links

*
Official homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seoul, Roman Catholic Archdiocese Roman Catholic dioceses in South Korea

Religious organizations established in 1931 Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Religion in Seoul A