By Park Ji-won
Pope Francis has appointed Lazarus You Heung-sik, currently Bishop of Daejeon, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy on Friday while conferring on him the title of Archbishop-Bishop Emeritus of Daejeon. He is the first South Korean to assume the position and the second Asian to do so after Jose Tomas Sanchez, a Filipino cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
The congregation is responsible for handling matters regarding priests and deacons not belonging to religious orders, as well as seminaries, overseeing more than 400,000 priests around the world. He will be serving in the position for the next five years.
"The Prefect, which leads one of nine Roman Congregations in the Roman Curia, the central administrative organization of the Catholic Church, is largely considered to be led by Cardinals. So it is highly anticipated that You will be appointed to the position of Cardinal in the future," the Archdiocese of Seoul wrote in a press release.
The remarks came at a time when the number people identifying as Catholics is on a continuing decline, particularly in Western countries. The number of Catholics in the United States has seen the biggest decline, with an 18-point drop, from 76 percent to 58 percent, over the past two decades, as of last year, according to a poll from Gallup, which was released in March 2021.
It is largely seen as a strategic move on the part of the Vatican to target a broader range of regions, especially in Asia, and thus to increase the number of followers there.
"The appointment of a Korean bishop to the Congregation for the Clergy follows that of (Filipino) Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the head of the Propaganda Fide, and testifies to Pope Francis' attention to the Asian continent," Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, wrote Friday.
You told Korean Catholics in a letter Saturday that "The Pope, whom I met on April 17 at his office, said, 'There is only one Prefect in the Curia Romana from Asia, while there are two from Africa. You are the one from Asia, which is very important in spreading the Church in the world.'"
You, who invited the Pope and welcomed him during his first visit to Korea in 2014, is also expected to push for the Pope to visit North Korea.
In a press conference held after his appointment on Saturday, You said, "I told the Pope about going to the North when I met him in April, and the Pope said that he would like to join. If I were given the chance, I would happily make the effort to bring about the Pope's visit to Pyongyang."
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| Archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik, who was newly named as Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See / Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea |
The congregation is responsible for handling matters regarding priests and deacons not belonging to religious orders, as well as seminaries, overseeing more than 400,000 priests around the world. He will be serving in the position for the next five years.
"The Prefect, which leads one of nine Roman Congregations in the Roman Curia, the central administrative organization of the Catholic Church, is largely considered to be led by Cardinals. So it is highly anticipated that You will be appointed to the position of Cardinal in the future," the Archdiocese of Seoul wrote in a press release.
The remarks came at a time when the number people identifying as Catholics is on a continuing decline, particularly in Western countries. The number of Catholics in the United States has seen the biggest decline, with an 18-point drop, from 76 percent to 58 percent, over the past two decades, as of last year, according to a poll from Gallup, which was released in March 2021.
It is largely seen as a strategic move on the part of the Vatican to target a broader range of regions, especially in Asia, and thus to increase the number of followers there.
"The appointment of a Korean bishop to the Congregation for the Clergy follows that of (Filipino) Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the head of the Propaganda Fide, and testifies to Pope Francis' attention to the Asian continent," Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, wrote Friday.
You told Korean Catholics in a letter Saturday that "The Pope, whom I met on April 17 at his office, said, 'There is only one Prefect in the Curia Romana from Asia, while there are two from Africa. You are the one from Asia, which is very important in spreading the Church in the world.'"
You, who invited the Pope and welcomed him during his first visit to Korea in 2014, is also expected to push for the Pope to visit North Korea.
In a press conference held after his appointment on Saturday, You said, "I told the Pope about going to the North when I met him in April, and the Pope said that he would like to join. If I were given the chance, I would happily make the effort to bring about the Pope's visit to Pyongyang."
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| Pope Francis listens as Archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik speaks in Daejeon on Aug. 15, 2014. Yonhap |
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