page_title: Patronages of the Immaculate Conception
section_title: Korea
hierarchical_section_title: Patronages of the Immaculate Conception / Korea
caption_attribution_description: English: Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception also is named Myeongdong Cathedral, 明洞聖堂, Seoul, South Korea
context_page_description: In the Catholic Church, several locations around the world invoke the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. Catholic diocesan authorities with the expressed and written approval of the Pope in countries including Brazil, Korea, the Philippines, Spain, and the United States of America designate the Blessed Virgin Mary as their principal patroness.
  As part of the patronage, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is often observed both religiously and culturally within these countries. Numerous national parades, processions and cultural festivities are associated with this patronage ranging from public holidays to holy day of obligation. Several Popes have conferred this title of patronage, sometimes initiated by bishops.
  The list below enumerates the various countries by which the Pope, through a papal bull has formally granted the Immaculate Conception as the patroness of the people and its land or kingdom.
  The list of Pontifical declaration does not include Ireland, Nicaragua and Portugal.
context_section_description: Amidst Christian suspicion and persecution at the time, Pope Gregory XVI invested ecclesiastical interest in strengthening the first bishopric in Korea. In 1831, he established the first and only Apostolic Vicariate in Korea which survived no foreign Catholic priests since the anti-Catholic persecutions that went on earlier that year.  According to Cardinal Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk, in 1841, Pope Gregory XVI solemnly dedicated the Korean Catholic Church to the Virgin Mary under the title "Immaculate Virgin".
  On 6 May   1984, Pope John Paul II reiterated this patronage by entrusting the Republic of Korea to the Virgin Mary, given at the Myeong-dong Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Seoul, Korea. In the Apostolic Letter, John Paul II noted that Bishop Imbert Bum first consecrated Korea to the Immaculate Conception in 1837, followed by Bishop Jean Joseph Ferréol in 1846 along with Saint Joseph as its co-patron in the village of Surich’igol, nearby the city of Gongju. According to the papal brief, a similar re-dedication of patronage to the Immaculate Conception was  invoked on by the French Bishop Gustave Charles Mutel (1854-1933) on 29 May  1898, when the cathedral was ceremoniously opened to the Korean public.
caption:  Korea — A 1948 French image of the Immaculate Conception at the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, Korea.
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