▲ This photo, shows You Heung-sik celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. Andrew Kim Dae-Geon held at St.Peter's Basilica on August 21 (local time) in Vatican City. (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) -- On the 30th (local time), South Korean archbishop Lazzaro and the new cardinal, You Heung-sik (70) said, "I dedicate this honor to the Korean martyrs, the Korean Catholic Church and the Korean people."

You, said in a calm voice in a phone call with Yonhap News Agency on the same day.

He emphasized that all this was only possible because of the 240-year history and status of the Catholic Church in Korea.

"I am very grateful that the pope has appointed me as the Prefect for the Congregation for Clergy and as Cardinal even though I lack in many parts," said You. "This is all thanks to the prayers and faith of the Korean martyrs, and as a result of the increased status of the Korean Catholic Church and Korea."

"I accept it as God's command to serve the Church and the Pope more faithfully," he added. "Along with the priests, I will be kind and will be doing my best to renew the church. I will also live my best to live as the descendants of the martyrs and make them proud."

He departed for Croatia the day before as he was invited to the festival at The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary, held in Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, by Josip Bosanic, Archbishop of Zagreb.

He plans to stay in Zagreb until the 1st of next month to attend the Missa and to hold special lectures.

You also said that he had heard the news of the Pope's announcement of him being appointed as the new cardinal on the same day from a Korean priest in Rome.

Born in Nonsan, South Chungcheong province in 1951, the new Cardinal, You, obtained a bachelor's degree in dogmatic theology and a master's and doctoral degree from Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Italy, and was ordained a priest there in 1979.

After returning to Korea in 1983, he served as the Parochial Vicar of Daeheung-dong Cathedral of Daejeon, the Director of Solmore Retreat House, Director of Daejeon Catholic Education Center, Pastoral Director of Daejeon Diocese and the Spiritual Director and Professor at Catholic University of Daejeon (Major Seminary), and the President of Catholic University of Daejeon before he was elected as the Coadjutor Bishop of Daejeon and was consecrated as Bishop in 2003.

While he served as the Bishop of Daejeon from 2005, last year June, he was appointed as the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and has been performing duties and activities of over 500,000 priests and deacons around the world, and has also been appointed as cardinal.

 

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Haemin Kim.)

 

 

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