YONHAP NEWS

Memorial events to be held in commemoration of the late cardinal Kim

By Kim Nam-hee
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) - One year on from the death of prominent South Korean cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan his passing still reverberates, with organ donation pledges soaring in synch with the cardinal's last wishes.

The Archdiocese of Seoul has designated the days from Feb. 16 to March 28 as an official memorial period for the late cardinal and prepared various events to the memory of the late cardinal, whose grave has attracted hundreds of thousands of people over the past year.

Kim, South Korea's first Roman Catholic cardinal, died of pneumonia on Feb. 16, 2009 at the age of 86. Since then, more than 300,000 people have visited his grave in a Catholic graveyard in Yongin City, about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, to pay respect for him and his message of love.

   Last week, Father Ahn Byeong-cheol of the Archdiocese of Seoul, announcing its plan for the memorial period events, said, "I hope this will be an opportunity for people to remember the love the late cardinal Kim showed us and to model his life of loving and sharing."
"The memorial events will focus on spreading the spirit of loving and sharing that the cardinal left behind as well as on commemorating him," said Father Heo Young-yeob, public relations director of the Archdiocese of Seoul.

   A memorial mass will be held at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul at 7 p.m. on Feb.16 by Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk and a group of bishops and priests. Alongside the sermon a video on the life of the late Cardinal will be presented. All of the Archdiocese of Seoul-affiliated churches and organizations will also hold a requiem mass.

   Since the late cardinal donated his eyes for cornea transplants, a campaign to promote an organ donation has taken root in the country. About an hour after the cardinal died at a hospital, the corneas separated from his eyes were transplanted to two patients.

   Since then, the number of people who have pledged to donate their organs after death has increased on an unprecedented scale.

   According to a report from Korean Network for Organ Sharing (KONOS), 185,046 people newly registered as organ donors through hospitals and organ donation organizations in 2009 alone. This is far more than twice the number 74,841 registered in 2008.

   kimnh@yna.co.kr
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