Our Lady of Fatima, to whom North Korea was consecrated

Marian title of Pyongyang (North Korea)
Recognized by the Church

The documented fact is as follows: 15 August 2020, solemnity of the Assumption and at the same time anniversary of the liberation of Korea from the Japanese occupation, the Cardinal Andrea Yeom Soo-Jung, Archbishop of Seoul and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Pyongyang, He consecrated the diocese of Pyongyang - and with it the whole territory of North Korea - to Our Lady of Fatima. La ceremonia tuvo lugar en la catedral de Myeongdong, en Seúl: una consagración hecha «en el exilio» por la Iglesia del Sur, como súplica para que el Norte pueda un día volver a rezar en paz y alegría.

Main data

Origin and history

The documented fact is as follows: 15 August 2020, solemnity of the Assumption and at the same time anniversary of the liberation of Korea from the Japanese occupation, the Cardinal Andrea Yeom Soo-Jung, Archbishop of Seoul and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Pyongyang, He consecrated the diocese of Pyongyang - and with it the whole territory of North Korea - to Our Lady of Fatima. La ceremonia tuvo lugar en la catedral de Myeongdong, en Seúl: una consagración hecha «en el exilio» por la Iglesia del Sur, como súplica para que el Norte pueda un día volver a rezar en paz y alegría.

In order to understand the meaning of this gesture, it is worth recalling the history of the diocese: first erected as the Apostolic Prefecture of Pyongyang in 1927, raised to Apostolic Vicariate in 1939 and to full-fledged Diocese in 1962, suffranea of Seoul. After the arrival into power of the communist regime, the clergy was either removed or disappeared in the 1940s - including Monsignor Hong Yong- ho, imprisoned and given as missing, whose exact date of death is not known - and faith was reduced to clandestine. That is why the Holy See never considered the diocese extinct: today it appears as vacancy and preventionand the Archbishop of Seoul manages it de facto.

It is appropriate to distinguish the documented from what is not known: the consecration to Fatima of 2020 is well attested by chronicles and Catholic means; instead, a traditional Marian advocation of the ancient diocese, or of the church of Changchung in Pyongyang, no consta.

The image and the sanctuary

There is no living Marian sanctuary in North Korea today. The consecration to Our Lady of Fatima was not carried out in the North, but in the Cathedral of Myeongdong (Seoul), by the Church in exile. The only visible Catholic temple in Pyongyang, the iglesia de Changchung, fue construido por el régimen en 1988 —no como restauración de la antigua catedral, sino como vitrina de una «tolerancia religiosa» controlada por el Estado— y carece de sacerdote residente. Que tenga una advocación mariana concreta no constaas there is no image of a living Marian cult in the North.

Sponsorship and coronation

North Korea has been spiritually entrusted to Our Lady of Fatima since the ecclesial consecration of 2020. It is a commission of the Church, not an act of the North Korean State, which does not recognize it. A canonical coronation no consta.

Party and devotion

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima is the 13 May. En el caso coreano, la devoción se vive como súplica por la paz, la reconciliación y la libertad religiosa en el Norte, en sintonía con el mensaje de Fátima de conversión y oración. Forma parte de esa devoción la memoria del «martirio silencioso» de los cristianos del Norte —obispos, sacerdotes desaparecidos y laicos deportados—, a quienes se invoca como intercesores por la reunificación de la península.

Link to the Rosary

The Rosary is the very heart of Fatima's message, and the Korean faithful turn to it by praying for the conversion and peace of the North. In many parishes and movements of the South the Rosary is prayed for reunification, often around the 15th of each month, while recalling Fatima and the consecration of Pyongyang. Thus, ten after ten, the Church entrusts to the Immaculate Heart of Mary the land where today you cannot pray in freedom.

Sources: tradition of the sanctuary, diocesan information and Wikipedia in Spanish. The distinction between popular piety and documented ecclesial history is specific to this fact sheet; extraordinary accounts are presented as devotion and not as doctrinal pronunciation.