The Holy Fathers and Korea

The Korean people were not aware of the existence of the Pope until 1614, when Lee Soo-kwang(1563~1628), the first Korean to introduce the Chinese version of books/texts on Western Learning to his country, referred to the papal system in his major work of 'Ji-bong-yu-seol' written in the form of the encyclopedia. In dealing with Matteo Ricci's 'Cheon-ju-sil-ui(De Deo Verax Disputatio),' he explained about the Pope as follows: "The king/leader of that custom is called the Pope, who will be succeeded by a wise man chosen among others, not by his own son since an unmarried man alone is entitled to be the Pope."

Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667 in papacy) was the first Roman Catholic pontiff to receive/hear the news on Korean Catholics. Alexander VII, who had taken measures to alleviate the ban on ancestral rites, or customs to honor the dead in some Asian nations, and had been highly interested in evangelization of China, subordinated Joseon, the last dynastic state in Korean history, to 'the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nanjing, China' at the request of Jesuitic missionaries to encourage mission activities in the state.

Clemens XI
Pope Clemens XI (1700-1721 in papacy) transferred the jurisdiction of Joseon Catholic from the Diocese of Nanjing to 'that of Beijing' in 1702. Then, Clemens XI issued in 1715 the papal bull aimed at banning acceptance of regional customs in areas where missionaries were serving, such as ancestral rites, widely called 'Jesa' in Korea, providing the decisive excuse for the Qing and Joseon dynasty to persecute Catholics in their countries.

Pius VI
Pope Pius VI(in papacy 1775-1799), who went through the French Revolution in his papacy, burst into tears of joy in 1785, when he was informed by Bishop Gouvea, the then diocesan bishop of Beijing that the creation of the Korean Catholic Church had been achieved in the previous year without missionary help. Pius VI entrusted the duty of protecting and taking care of the fledgling Joseon Catholic Church to the bishop, ordering that missionaries be sent to the state as soon as possible. Moreover, the Holy Father wholeheartedly endowed 500 silver coins in missionary funds for the newborn Catholic Church, along with the Apostolic Blessing.

Pius VII
Pope Pius VII(in papacy 1800-1823) spent every day in unutterable pain, there being nothing that he could do for the purpose of reestablishing the devastated Joseon Catholic Church in the aftermath of the Catholic Persecution of 1801, also known as the Sinyu Persecution, a mass persecution of Korean Catholics.
Pius VII received a letter from Joseon Catholics in August 1814, which had been sent 24th October 1811 on the lunar calender. In their letter, the persecuted made a desperate plea for the Pope's help by saying, "Have mercy on sheep in this country who lost their shepherd, and send missionaries without any hesitation so that grace and contribution of the Lord Jesus Christ, our savior, may be widely spread, our soul may be helped and rescued, and the Lord's hallowed name may be praised in every corner of this nation.
The Roman Catholic pontiff, who was taken into custody by the French revolutionary army in Fontainebleau near Paris, wrote a letter saying that "Dispatch missionaries to Joseon as quick as possible." to the then diocesan bishop of Beijing. That was all that he could do for the Joseon Catholic Church.

Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI(in papacy 1831-1846), who were serving as the prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith(the current Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) as he was elected in a papal conclave, on being inaugurated, directly resolved matters on the mission filed of Joseon. Gregory XVI set up 'the Apostolic Vicariate of Joseon' and proclaimed the papal bull meant to appoint Bishop Barthelemy Bruguiere of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris as its first leader 9th September 1831. The Holy Father delegated responsibility for missionary works in Joseon to the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris and, in the cause of developing the Korean Catholic Church, granted the leader bishop authority to choose the new vice-diocesan bishop possessing the right of succession to the top position in the Apostolic Vicariate, to ensure that persecution would not leave a vacancy for the leading position. On top of that, the Holy Father announced the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived through the Immaculate Conception as the patronus for the Joseon Catholic Church.

Pius IX
Pope Pius IX(in papacy 1846~1878) declared 82 martyrs of the Joseon Catholic Church 'venerable'(servant of God) 24th September 1857, immediately after he for the first time read 'the Martirologio of the Kihae Persecution,' which was written in French by Bishop Jean Joseph Jena Baptiste Ferréol and translated into Latin by Thomas Yang-up Choi, the second Korean priest. As a result of this declaration, he became the first Roman Catholic pontiff to treat martyrs in Joseon in a proper manner. In a papal letter in December 1886, the Pope also consoled and encouraged Catholics suffering the Byungin Persecution in Joseon.

Pius X, Puis Ⅺ
Pope Pius X(in papacy 1903-1914) divided the Apostolic Vicariate of Joseon into that of 'Seoul' and of 'Daegu' in 1911.
Pope Puis Ⅺ(in papacy 1922-1939) not merely established the Diocese of Jeonju(1937), giving Korean Roman Catholic priests the autonomous right but also set the framework for the territorial Church on the Korean Peninsula by setting up the Diocese of Pyongyang(1927), Yanji(1928), Kwangju(1937), and Chuncheon(1939). Puis Ⅺ also declared 79 Korean martyrs 'blessed' 5th July 1925. He named Bishop Muttel for archbishop the following year, who was the first archbishop for Korean Catholic Church. The Holy Father went on to show his special affection for the Church with sending Archbishop M as a papal envoy to the first Korean Church Council in 1931, which was held with an eye to marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of Joseon.

Joannes XXIII
Pope Joannes XXIII(in papacy 1958-1963) instituted 'the hierarchy' of the Korean Catholic Church 10th March 1962. As a result, the Korean Church was finally qualified as a formal Diocese after an estimated 130 years of the mission-field one, and the Korean Church bishops started to exercise their full authority to have jurisdiction over the Korean Diocese as an agent of the Pope and 'the successor to the apostles'. Furthermore, the Korean Church was formally invited to Vatican Council II, cooperating with other Churches in finding solutions to pending issues and being recognized as a perfect form of territorial Church which can participate in decision-making process in regard to significant matters.
Prior to his serving the papacy, Pope Joannes XIII played a crucial role in establishing the government of Republic of Korea as the then papal embassador to France by positively supporting the Korean delegation at the United Nations' Summit in 1948.

Paul VI
Pope Paul VI (in papacy 1963-1978) declared 24 Korean martyrs 'blessed' on 6th October 1968. In his homily at the beatification ceremony, Paul VI hailed fortitude and divinity of the Korean martyrs, and urged "the European Catholic to learn a lesson from the exemplary model of Roman Catholicism in Korea through in-depth exploration of the history of the Korean martyrs. The Holy Father also consecrated senior Archbishop Stephen Kim Sou-hwan as the first Korean cardinal in 1969, paving the way for the Korean Catholic Church to take part in the supreme Roman Catholic rule. Vatican and Seoul also set up diplomatic ties in December 1963 in Paul VI's papacy. 　

Pope Saint John Paul II
Pope Saint John Paul II(in papacy 1978-2005) was the first Roman Catholic pontiff to pay a pastoral visit to South Korea in May 1984 for making the 200th anniversary of the Korean Catholic Church. He presided over the canonization ceremony of 103 Korean martyrs at Yeouido square, Seoul, the first case that more than 100 saints were created at a time outside the Curia.
The Pope visited South Korea once again during the 44th International Eucharistic Congress held in Seoul in 1989, expressing his particular love for the Korean Church and people. The Pope's first and second visitations to Korea had a great deal of influence on the younger generation desperately longing for a democracy, and helped the Korean Church expand its congregation. He in advance greeted Korean Catholic by saying "Chanmi-Jesus," which means 'Laudate Dominum,' or 'Praise the Lord' and is widely used among Korean Catholics as a greeting, especially when he met them in Hanbok, the traditional Korean clothes. In addition, he frequently called on the Catholic worldwide to pray for inter-Korean reconciliation and solidarity. This is why Pope Saint John Paul II has long been loved by many Korean people, Catholic or non-Catholic, as friendly a pope as ever lived.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI(in papacy 2005-2013) has shown his consistent attention to matters such as peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsular, the separated families after the Korean War, and humanitarian assistance toward North Korea. Following Angelus 30th September 2007, the Pope called on the Catholics across the world to pray for a successful inter-Korean summit, stressing that "With a significant progress on the dialogue between the two Koreas being made, strengthened efforts to reconciliate are expected to serve a helpful role in ensuring stability and peace on the Peninsula."
The Holy Father also told the then South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, in 2009 when Mr. Lee paid an official visit to Vatican, "We must not turn a deaf ear to the North Korean people suffering from food shortages. Let's seek to resolve the inter-Korean problem together." He has also expressed his concerns with a big event or about a deadly accident, taken place in Korea, by sending a letter. Letters of condolence from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI consoled Koreans in deep sorrow at times of national mourning in the wake of incidents, including the passing away of senior Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, the demise of former President Kim Dae-joong, and the fire disaster, which happened at a cold storage in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do Province in January 2008 and claimed 40 lives.