Cardinal Jeong Jin-seok, Former Leader of Seoul Archdiocese, Passes Away at 90

Refusing Life-Sustaining Treatment to Avoid Worrying Others
Appointed Archbishop of Seoul in 1998, Led for 14 Years
Appointed Cardinal in 2006... Second Korean to Receive the Title

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Cardinal Jeong Jin-seok, who served as the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul, passed away on the 27th at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital due to old age. He was 90 years old.

According to the Archdiocese of Seoul, Cardinal Jeong had been hospitalized at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital since February 21 for treatment. He was diagnosed with aortic hemorrhage due to old age and was advised to undergo surgery, but he refused life-prolonging treatment, not wanting to cause worry to those around him. Having signed an organ donation agreement in 2006, an eye extraction surgery was performed on the same day.

Born in 1931 into a Catholic family in Supyo-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Cardinal Jeong assisted in Catholic ceremonies at Myeongdong Cathedral from the age of thirteen. His baptismal name was Nicolaus. He dreamed of becoming an inventor while studying chemical engineering at Seoul National University, but the outbreak of the Korean War during his studies led to his conscription into the National Defense Corps. Witnessing the horrors of war deeply shocked him and led him to pursue the path of priesthood. He entered the Catholic University of Korea's Faculty of Theology in 1954 and was ordained in 1961.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Cardinal Jeong began his service as an assistant priest at Jungnim-dong Parish in the Archdiocese of Seoul, later serving as a teacher at Seongsin High School, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, and vice principal of Seongsin High School. In 1970, he earned a master's degree in canon law from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, Italy, and was ordained as the youngest bishop at the age of 39 that same year. He subsequently served as the Bishop of Cheongju Diocese, chairman of the Bishops' Conference, and chairman of the Canon Law Committee before being appointed Archbishop of Seoul in 1998, where he was elevated to archbishop. He led the archdiocese for 14 years until his resignation in 2012.

In 2006, he was appointed cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI, becoming the second Korean cardinal after the late Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan. At that time, Cardinal Jeong pledged, "I will live a life of service to repay the grace of the people," and promised to support "respect for life, the true life of youth, and the happiness of all families in the nation."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Quietly fulfilling his commitments, he was also recognized as an expert in canon law. It is said that he woke up every day at 5 a.m. to write books. His starting point was the new Code of Canon Law published by the Catholic Church in 1983. He served as the chair of the translation committee and worked with fellow priests on the Korean translation. In addition, he published fifteen commentaries on canon law and fifty other books and translations.

The funeral will be held as the Archbishop of Seoul. It will be conducted as a five-day funeral at Myeongdong Cathedral, the cathedral church of the archdiocese.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.