Francis Hong Yong-ho

Francis Hong Yong-ho (Korean: 홍용호 프란치스코) (born 12 October, 1906) is the Roman Catholic bishop of Pyongyang, North Korea. ["Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 2006". Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2006.] ["Diocese of P’yŏng-yang 평양, North Korea." "Giga-Catholic Information". 27 Oct. 2007. .] Francis Hong Yong-ho was imprisoned by the communist regime of Kim Il-sung in 1949 and later disappeared. ["Pope writes letter to North Korean Catholics." "AsiaNews". 16 Feb. 2007. 27 Oct. 2007. .] ["Mission Asia: The Laboratory is South Korea." "Chiesa". 26 Jan. 2007. 27 Oct. 2007. .] ["Catholicism in North Korea survives in catacombs." "National Catholic Reporter". 19 Oct. 2006. 28 Oct. 2007. ] According to Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk,

There’s no knowledge of priests surviving persecution that came in the late forties, when 166 priests and religious were killed or kidnapped. The "Pontifical Yearbook" continues to describe as "missing" the man who was the bishop of Pyong-yang at the time, Monsignor Francis Hong Yong-ho, who today would be a hundred years old. It's a gesture by the Holy See to point to the tragedy that the Church in Korea has suffered and is still going through. ["Korea, for a reconciliation between North and South." "30Days" 19.3 (Mar. 2006). 27 Oct. 2007. .]

Biography

Born in Pyongyang, Korea, on 12 October 1906, Francis Hong Yong-ho was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on 25 May 1933, was named vicar apostolic of Pyongyang on 24 March 1944 by Pope Pius XII, and was ordained a Roman Catholic bishop on 29 June 1944 by Bishop Bonifatius Sauer, O.S.B.; when the Diocese of P'yong-yang was established on 10 March 1962 by Pope John XXIII, Francis Hong Yong-ho was named the first bishop of the new diocese. ["Bishop Francis Hong Yong-ho." "Catholic Hierarchy". 27 Oct. 2007. .]

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