Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
March 02, 2009

Koreas first cardinal, an outspoken defender of human rights, died in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16. At the time of his death, Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan was the longest-serving cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Daegu in May 1922, the late cardinal was ordained a priest in 1951. After earning a degree in philosophy at the Catholic University of Jochi Daigaku in Tokyo, Japan, he was named bishop of Masan, Korea, in 1966. He was named archbishop of Seoul just two years later. Pope Paul VI made him Korea’s first cardinal in 1969. One of the main focuses of the cardinal’s work was pressing for reconciliation between North and South Korea and for freedom of religion in the Communist North.

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, by J.D. Long García
J.D. Long GarcíaApril 30, 2025
A Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, by Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinApril 30, 2025
In a pre-conclave meeting, an Italian cardinal, and backer of Cardinal Parolin as next pope, attacked Pope Francis for opening positions of responsibility in the church to men and women not in holy orders.
Gerard O’ConnellApril 30, 2025
Michael B. Jordan, left, in “Sinners” (Warner Brothers)
As the film’s title promises, there is plenty of sin on display, even before the vampires arrive.
John DoughertyApril 30, 2025