Archdiocese of Seoul

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seoul (Latin: Archidioecesis Metropolitae Seulensis, Korean: 서울대교구) is a Metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church comprising the metropolitan area of Seoul, South Korea, whose province comprises parts of South Korea (which has two more provinces) and all North Korea, yet depends on the missionary Dicastery for Evangelization. Its Metropolitan bishop as the Archbishop of Seoul resides at his Myeongdong Cathedral in Jung-gu, Seoul. The Archbishop of Seoul is also the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Pyongyang in North Korea. There are 57 secretly active Catholic parishes in North Korea, but due to the current regime in place, no Catholic priests are permitted permanent residency at the present time. Pope Francis announced that the Archdiocese will be the host of the 2027 international celebration of World Youth Day. Statistics As of 2020, it pastorally served 1,534,887 Catholics (15.7% of 9,765,869 total) on 17,349 km2 in 232 parishes with 954 priests. History Pope Leo XIII was the first to approve the separation of the community from the control of diocese of Beijing and assigned priests from the Paris Foreign Missions Society but never went due to the Anti-Christian sentiment and persecutions during that time. Pope Gregory XVI issued a papal bull, Ex debito pastoralis, on 9 September 1831, establishing the Apostolic Vicariate of the Korean Kingdom, 조선/Corea/Curiate(Italian)/朝鮮(正體中文), on territory split off from the then Diocese of Peking, in what used to be part of Imperial China. It was renamed on 8 April 1911 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Seoul 서울/漢城(正體中文), when it also ceded territory to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Taiku (Daegu). It lost more territories, beginning on 8 May 1920, to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan. On 17 March 1927, it again ceded territory to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Hpyeng-yang, and on 25 April 1939, it lost territory again to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Shunsen. The Apostolic Vicariate 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, and on 6 June 1961, it lost again to make the Apostolic Vicariate of Incheon, all three now have suffragan 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 Diocese of Suwon and it ceded territory again on 24 June 2004 to establish the Diocese of Uijeongbu, now both its suffragans. The archdiocese has hosted official Papal visits by Pope John Paul II in May 1984 and October 1989 and by Pope Francis in August 2014. Ecclesiastical province The Metropolitan's ecclesiastical province comprises his own Archdiocese and the following suffragan bishoprics, mostly in South Korea : Diocese of Chuncheon 춘천 Diocese of Daejeon 대전 Diocese of Hamhung 함흥 (in North Korea) Diocese of Incheon 인천 Diocese of Pyongyang 평양 (in North Korea) Diocese of Suwon 수원 Diocese of Uijeongbu 의정부 Diocese of Wonju 원주 Leadership Ordinaries Apostolic Vicars of Korea Barthélemy Bruguière, MEP (1831–1835) Saint Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert, MEP (1836–1839) Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Ferréol, MEP (1843–1853) Saint Siméon-François Berneux, MEP (1854–1866) Saint Antoine-Marie-Nicolas Daveluy, MEP (1866) Félix-Clair Ridel, MEP (1869–1884) Marie-Jean-Gustave Blanc, MEP (1884–1890) Gustave-Charles-Marie Mutel, MEP (1890–1911) Apostolic Vicars of Seoul Gustave-Charles-Marie Mutel, MEP (1911–1933), appointed Archbishop (personal title) in 1926 Adrien-Joseph Larribeau, MEP (1933–1942), appointed Apostolic Vicar and later Bishop of Daijeon Paul Roh Ki-nam (1942–1962) Archbishops of Seoul Paul Roh Ki-nam (1962–1967) Victorinus Youn Kong-hi (1967–1968; apostolic administrator) Servant of God Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (1968–1998) Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk (1998–2012) Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung (2012–2021) Peter Chung Soon-taick, OCD (2021–present) Coadjutor Bishops Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Ferréol, MEP (1838–1843) Saint Siméon-François Berneux, MEP (1844–1854) Saint Antoine-Marie-Nicolas Daveluy, MEP (1855–1866) Marie-Jean-Gustave Blanc, MEP (1877–1884) Émile-Alexandre-Joseph Devred, MEP (1920–1926), never succeeded to see Adrien-Joseph Larribeau, MEP (1926–1933) Auxiliary Bishops Joseph Kyeong Kap-ryong (1977–1984), appointed Bishop of Daejeon Paul Kim Ok-kyun (1985–2001) Peter Kang U-il (1985–2002), appointed Bishop of Cheju Andreas Choi Chang-mou (1994–1999), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Gwangju Joseph Lee Han-taek (2001–2004), appointed Bishop of Uijeongbu Andrew Yeom Soo-jung (2001–2012), appointed Archbishop of Seoul Lucas Kim Woon-hoe (2002–2010), appointed Bishop of Chunchon Basil Cho Kyu-man (2006–2016), appointed Bishop of Wonju Peter Chung Soon-taick, OCD (2014–2021), appointed Archbishop of Seoul Timothy Yu Gyoung-chon (2014–2025) Benedictus Son Hee-song (2015–2024), appointed Bishop of Uijeongbu Job Koo Yobi (2017–present) Paul Lee Kyung-sang (2024-present) See also List of Catholic Dioceses in Korea References Sources and external links (in Korean) Official homepage GCatholic.org, with Google map – data for all sections English Mass Service in Seoul Myeongdong Cathedral English Mass Service Yeoksam Catholic Church English Mass Service Seoul International Catholic Church