The silent Marian faith of North Korea

Marian title of Pyongyang (North Korea)

La Pyongyang diocese was canonically erected in the 20th century (now dependent on the archdiocese of Seoul, whose archbishop is episcopal vicar for North Korea). Before the partition of the peninsula and the communist regime, the northern area - and in particular Pyongyang - had a strong Christian growth, to the point of being called "East Jerusalem" by the density of believers. Various testimonies speak of miles de católicos and many communities before 1945.

Main data

Origin and history

La Pyongyang diocese was canonically erected in the 20th century (now dependent on the archdiocese of Seoul, whose archbishop is episcopal vicar for North Korea). Before the partition of the peninsula and the communist regime, the northern area - and in particular Pyongyang - had a strong Christian growth, to the point of being called "East Jerusalem" by the density of believers. Various testimonies speak of miles de católicos and many communities before 1945.

In the northeast there was also the Benedictine territorial abbey of Tokwon, Latin rite, ecclesiastical jurisdiction of its own today officially vacant by unilateral decision of the North Korean State. The Benedictine monastic tradition was characterized by a deep Marian spirituality (liturgy, singing, devotions) documented in the customs of the Order and in the common practice of the monasteries, although the existence of a Marian advocation of Tokwon is not known. The communist persecution, especially under Kim Il- sung, it meant the suppression of all the dioceses of the North (Pyongyang, Hamhůng, Tokwon), the disappearance of the local clergy and the destruction or closure of temples.

# # Documented history and current situation

It is historically documented that, after 1945 and the establishment of the communist regime, the Catholic Church was practically in North Korea: Bishops and priests disappeared (killed, imprisoned or killed in work camps), and the temples were destroyed or closed. The current sources of Church and organizations to help the persecuted agree that No visible ecclesiastical lifeThere are no bishops, no resident priests, no operational diocesan structure.

The government created the Korean Catholic Association y levantó en Pyongong la iglesia de Changchungunder strict state control, without resident priests. The Constitution mentions religious freedom, but its real exercise is severely restricted and Christianity is treated as a threat to the system. The existence of thousands of Christians (between 400,000 and 500,000 according to some NGOs, and between 3,000 and 100,000 Catholics according to others) who practice faith in the underground, with a very high risk of imprisonment, work camps or death.

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The image and the sanctuary

The existence of a concrete Marian imagen officially recognized and linked to a living sanctuary in Pyongyang or anywhere else in North Korea. The historical Catholic temples of the Pyongyang diocese y de la abadía de Tokwon were destroyed or rendered inoperative during the persecution, and the jurisdictions are now considered "vacant" from the ecclesial point of view.

The only officially existing Catholic church, Changkwan, in Pyongyang, it was built in 1988 and is associated with the Korean Catholic Association. It is a cult building under state control, without a stable presence of priests and without recognition by the Catholic Church as a Marian, minor basilica or national sanctuary. There is no verified data on a specific Marian image there venerated that has acquired its own apvocation character.

En consecuencia, la Marian advocation linked to the ancient diocese of Pyongyang and Tokwon is expressed today more as historical and spiritual memory of a martyred Church that as a public cult around a visible image or sanctuary.

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Sponsorship and coronation

According to ecclesial testimonies, the Patron of the Diocese of Pyongyang es la Virgin Mary under the title "Queen of Peace". This patronage is maintained at the spiritual and legal level, although the diocese cannot exercise its pastoral life in the territory and the original temple is destroyed. In recent years, public events have been held in South Korea in which the diocese of Pyongyang and all North Korea are entrusted to the protection of the Virgin, which reaffirms this Marian bond.

There is no evidence of a canonical coronation of a concrete image of the Virgin as Patron of Pyongyang, neither in the past nor today. Therefore, in fidelity to the sources: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

The Marian patronage extends, in a spiritual way, to the Church suffering throughout North Koreaespecially the suppressed dioceses of Pyongyang, Hamhůng and the monastic territory of Tokwon, today without headlines.

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Party and devotion

No consta una public liturgical feast on North Korean territory in honor of the Virgin as Patroness of Pyongyang, since ecclesial life is de facto abolished and any public religious manifestation is practically impossible.

In practice, the Marian memory of Pyongyang and of the persecuted Church in the North is celebrated today mainly:

– En la Archdiocese of Seoulwhich acts as a vicariate for North Korea, Masses, Watches and Days of Prayer for Peace and Reunification, a menudo confiadas explícitamente a la Virgen María (por ejemplo, en torno al 15 de agosto, solemnidad de la Asunción y fecha significativa para la historia de Corea). – En diversas comunidades católicas de Corea del Sur y del mundo, que recuerdan a los martyrs and confessors of the faith of North Korea, often in Marian key, but without a universally fixed party of its own.

North Korean Christians who practice their faith in hiding can only live Marian devotion, if they keep it, in the field domestic and secretwithout verifiable public data on specific dates, practices or traditions, given the extreme risk that human rights bodies and entities that accompany persecuted Christians report.

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Link to the Rosary

The available sources do not document a official devotion to the Rosary linked to a specific Marian image or sanctuary in Pyongyang or Tokwon before persecution, nor do they describe current public practices of prayer of the Rosary in North Korea. By the clandestine nature of faith, possible Marian devotions - including the Rosary - cannot be recorded in a document without endangering the faithful.

However, the Church's experience pursued in other countries and the testimonies of exiled North Korean Christians indicate that the memorized prayers (Our Father, Hail Mary, Gloria) and the simple forms of the Rosary have a privileged place where books and religious objects cannot be available without serious danger. In that context, the Hidden family Rosary it becomes plausibly - although not documentable in detail - a prayer that accompanies the silent fidelity of many believers.

From a marine perspective, the memory of the Pyongyang diocese, "East Jerusalem", y de la abadía de Tokwon is illuminated in the light of the mysteries of the Rosary:

– En los misterio