Stephen Kim Sou-hwan

Stephen Kim Sou-hwan was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and the former archbishop of Seoul, South Korea. He was born in Daegu, Korea, in 1922 and studied philosophy at Sophia University in Tokyo and Catholic University of Korea in Seoul. He was ordained a priest in 1951 and served as a parish priest and a secretary in the Archdiocese of Daegu. He then studied sociology at Münster University in Germany from 1956 to 1963. He was appointed bishop of Masan in 1966 and archbishop of Seoul in 1968. He was created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1969, becoming the youngest member of the College of Cardinals at that time. He was also the apostolic administrator of Pyeong Yang from 1975 to 1998. He was a prominent figure in South Korea's transition from military dictatorship to democracy, as he advocated for human rights, social justice, and reconciliation. He was respected by people of different faiths and political views, and was often called the "nation's conscience". He retired as the archbishop of Seoul in 1998 and died of pneumonia in 2009. He was buried at Myeongdong Cathedral, where he had served for 30 years. He was widely mourned by the Korean people and the Catholic Church.