A Church For Many: Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan and the Transformation of Korean Catholicism in the 20th Century

Abstract

Twentieth-century Korea confronted successive upheavals—Japanese colonial rule, liberation and foreign occupation, war, and decades of militarized dictatorship. For much of this period, the Korean Catholic Church tended to preserve an inherited posture of political reserve, emphasizing the separation of church and state. Yet by the 1970s and 1980s it had become one of the most visible and influential voices in democratic opposition, framing public engagement as a religious responsibility for the common good. This study argues that the emergence of “new” Korean Catholicism cannot be understood apart from the wider reorientation of global Catholicism culminating in the Second Vatican Council, while also requiring close attention to local actors who translated conciliar visions into a contested national arena.To trace this transformation, the dissertation offers a historical and chronological account centered on the life and leadership of Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan (1922–2009), Korea’s first cardinal and, for three decades, archbishop of Seoul. Kim’s career bridged local and global Catholic institutions: as the youngest Korean archbishop and a Vatican-connected prelate, he embodied postconciliar renewal and wielded religious authority within a still-persistent Christendom imaginary. His long tenure, spanning the decisive years of authoritarian rule and democratic struggle, renders him an exemplary lens through which to examine how ecclesial commitments, institutional resources, and moral rhetoric shaped Catholic public activism. By integrating political history with religious and institutional analysis, this project illuminates how one religious organization and one emblematic leader helped reconfigure Korean public life, contributing to broader narratives of collective resilience, democratization, and social transformation.