The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamhung is a

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

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 Jo ...

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 ...

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. Originally erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan in 1920, the name has been changed twice, once to Kankoensis o Hameungensis in 1940, and finally, as the Apostolic Vicariate of Hamhung in 1950. Like the

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 19 ...

, the Vicariate was elevated to a full diocese in 1962. The diocese is a suffragan of the

Archdiocese of Seoul The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seoul ( Latin: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Seulensis'', ko, 서울대교구) is a Metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church comprising the metropolitan area of Seoul ...

Persecutions

In 1949, 166 priests and religious were martyred in the Communist revolution of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

. This left the diocese bereft of priests. Bishop Boniface Sauer, the abbot of Tokwon Abbey, had died in 1950, and no bishop had been re-appointed to the diocese. Finally, in 1962, Timotheus (Franz Xaver) Bitterli, was appointed in absentia as the bishop of the diocese, and was the apostolic administrator for 20 years until his resignation in 1981. Since then, the diocese has remained vacant, and it will likely remain so as long as the

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 c ...

continues.

Ordinaries

Vicars Apostolic of Hamheung

*Bonifatius Sauer, OSB (1920-1950) *Timotheus Bitterli, OSB (1950–1962;

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 adm ...

)

Bishops of Hamhung

*Timotheus Bitterli, OSB (1962–1981; apostolic administrator) *Abbot Placidus Lee Dong-ho (1981–2005; apostolic administrator) *

John Chang Yik The Right Reverend John Chang Yik (November 20, 1933, Seoul – August 5, 2020, Chuncheon) was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chunchon, South Korea. The son of Chang Myon, he was born as Chang Yik. On 30 March 1963, aged 29, he w ...

(2005–2010; apostolic administrator) *

Luke Kim Woon-hoe People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

(2010–2020; apostolic administrator) * Simon Kim Ju-young (2020–present; apostolic administrator)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamhung, Roman Catholic Diocese of Roman Catholic dioceses in North Korea Christian organizations established in 1920

Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's second-largest city, and the capital of South Hamgyŏng Province. It has an estimated population of 768,551. Located in the southern part of the South Hamgyong province, Hamhung is the main and most p ...