ROME, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) — South Korean archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik will lead a memorial mass celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, the first Korean native Catholic priest, at the Vatican this weekend.
Born on Aug. 21, 1821, in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, about 120 kilometers south of Seoul, Kim was ordained as a priest in 1845 during the late Joseon era in Shanghai, China. However, he was persecuted and executed for practicing Christianity the following year at the age of 25. Kim was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1984.
The anniversary Mass in memory of the bicentenary of Kim’s birth will be held at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday afternoon. Korean Catholic priests, ascetics and believers in Rome, along with South Korean Ambassador to Vatican Choo Kyu-ho, will take part in the ceremony.
“It is a divine providence that I’m able to dedicate a Mass celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon at St. Peter’s Basilica,” You told Yonhap News Agency over phone on Wednesday, adding that he has delivered a letter on the event to Pope Francis.
The event will mark the first Mass You has officiated as the prefect of Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See since taking office earlier this month.
It will also be the first Korean-language Mass to take place at the prominent papal basilica in almost six and a half years since March 2015, when the South Korean delegation of bishops made a regular visit to the Vatican.
The pope reportedly plans to send a special message considering the importance of the upcoming Mass commemorating Kim’s bicentenary. Whether the pope will pay a visit to the cathedral during the ceremony has yet to be confirmed
The memorial Mass will be livestreamed on Korea’s Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corp.’s YouTube channel.
Source: Yonhap News Agency