The Catholic Archdiocese of Gwangju ( la, Archidioecesis Kvangiuensis,

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

: 천주교 광주대교구) is a

particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...

of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

of the

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 ...

, one of the three Metropolitan sees of the

Catholic Church in Korea The Catholic Church in Korea is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. The Catholic hierarchy in Korea has never been divided between South and North, in the same manner as the Catholic hier ...

. The Archdiocese covers the city of Gwangju and entire

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korean ...

History

On 13 April 1937 Pope Pius XI established the Prefecture Apostolic of Kwoszu. Pope Pius XII changed its name to the Prefecture Apostolic of Kwangju on 12 July 1950. It was elevated to a Vicariate Apostolic on 21 January 1957.

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

elevated the vicariate to an archdiocese on 10 March 1962.

Leadership

Ordinaries

Apostolic Prefects of Kwangju

Owen McPolin Rev. Owen McPolin((임 오엔)) SSC. MA, STL, (1889–1963) was an Irish priest who served on missions to China and Korea. Biography Born in Hilltown, County Down, Ireland, in 1889, McPolin, went to Maynooth College where he was ordained in 1913 ...

(1937–1942) *Thomas Asagoro Wakida (1942–1945) *Owen McPolin (1945–1947) * Patrick Thomas Brennan (1949–1950) * Harold William Henry (1954–1957)

Apostolic Vicars of Kwangju

*Harold William Henry (1957–1962)

Archbishops of Gwangju

*Harold William Henry (1962–1971), appointed Apostolic Administrator of Cheju *Peter Han Kong-ryel (1971–1973) * Victorinus Youn Kong-hi (1973–2000) *

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 ...

(2000–2010) *

Hyginus Kim Hee-jong Hyginus Kim Hee-jong was the 5th Archbishop, and current Archbishop Emeritus, of the Gwangju. Born in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, Korea in 1947, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Gwangju in 1975. On 24 June 2003, he was appointe ...

(2010–2022) * Simon Ok Hyun-jin (2022–present)

Coadjutor Archbishops

*Andreas Choi Chang-mou (1999–2000) *Hyginus Kim Hee-jong (2009–2010)

Auxiliary Bishops

*Andreas Choi Chang-mou (1994–1999) *Hyginus Kim Hee-jong (2003–2009) *Simon Ok Hyun-jin (2011–2022)Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Simon Ok Hyun-jjn"
retrieved November 7, 2015

References

External links

Archdiocese of Gwangju
{{coord, 35.1500, N, 126.9000, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:KR, display=title Roman Catholic Archdiocese Gwangju Christian organizations established in 1937 Gwangju 1937 establishments in Korea A