| Seen is a handwritten note by the late cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, Korea's first Roman Catholic cardinal. It was released by the research body of the Archdiocese of Seoul on Sunday to mark the 11th anniversary of Kim's death. Courtesy of Archdiocese of Seoul |
The institute for Korean church history unveiled a note written in the 1970s by the late Cardinal Stephan Kim Sou-hwan to mark the 11th anniversary of his death. He died of pneumonia on Feb. 16, 2009.
The hand-written note is one of the documents the institute released on Sunday.
The institute said the records contain rare information on 250 personal items of Kim, including this note, his writings and clerical clothes which have found their way to different places across the nation following his death.
"The Archdiocese of Seoul continued to make efforts on finding our ancestors' records of spreading faith," Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung said in a congratulatory statement.
"Kim, who was the first cardinal of the Korean church was a priest and shepherd who guided grassroots believers well… We hope that these records can help people remember Cardinal Kim."
In the note, Kim designated the acting cardinal and other positions to be taken after his death and asked people to follow canon law.
He left the related notes on Jan. 16 and Oct. 19 in 1970 and Feb. 21 in 1971 in case of his death or vacancy of the position, according to the records.
In addition to the notes, the records include the information on Kim's baptism and confirmation.
Kim was baptized by J. Vermorel, pro-vicar of the then Daegu Catholic Church on July. 25, 1922, according to the data. It also says "The baby's baptismal name is Stefano who was born between Kim Joseph and Suh Martina in Namsan-dong, Daegu on July. 2. The godfather's name is Lee Peter."