VATICAN (Agencies): Pope Francis appointed Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik of Daejeon, South Korea, as the new prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, the Vatican announced on June 11, CNS reported on June 11.
Ourgoing prefect, the 79-year-old Beniamino Cardinal Stella of Italy, will remain at his post until Bishop You can assume his role.
Cardinal Stella will reach the mandatory retirement age of 80 on August 18. He was appointed prefect by Pope Francis in September 2013.
The Vatican added that new prefect has also been made an archbishop,
“I thank the pope and the Holy See for the appointment. My greatest calling is to assist the Holy Father and the Church to grow and expand,” the 69-year-old Archbishop You said during a press conference on June 12, UCAN reported
Born in Nonsan on 17 November 1951, in Nonsan, Archbishop You studied in Seoul and in Rome, where he received his doctorate in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Lateran University.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1979 and served in a variety of positions in the Diocese of Daejeon, including spiritual director, professor and finally president of the Catholic University of Daejeon.
‘I thank the pope and the Holy See for the appointment. My greatest calling is to assist the Holy Father and the Church to grow and expand’
Bishop You
Pope St. John Paul II named then-Archbishop You coadjutor bishop of Daejeon in 2003. In 2005, became head of the diocese, succeding the late Bishop Joseph Kyeong Kap-ryong .
CNS reported that within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, he has been a member of many commissions, including those for mission and pastoral care, social affairs, and the pastoral care of migrants and foreign residents. He was president of the bishops’ committee for Caritas Korea from 2004 to 2008.
He has been a member of the conference’s Commission for Clergy and Religious since 2005 and had been a member of the Pontifical Council for Cor Unum until it was absorbed by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in 2017.
Archbishop You hosted events held in Daejeon as part of the Sixth Asian Youth Day in 2014, sponsored by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, and attended by Pope Francis (Sunday Examiner, 24 August 2014).
The appointment came just a few days after Pope Francis announced he had asked Bishop Egidio Miragoli of Mondovì, Italy, to conduct an official visit of the Congregation for Clergy, a move he had also made before naming a new prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.
On June 14, the Committee for Communications of the Archdiocese of Seoul, released a congratulatory message from Andrew Cardinal Yeom of Seoul, who expressed his joy at the news, calling it a great gift for the Church in Korea on jubilee of the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, patron saint of Korea.
Cardinal Yeom said in his message: “I sincerely hope that Archbishop You could assist the Holy Father Francis in fulfilling his papal duties with his deep spirituality, exceptional ability and communication skills” and thanked the pope for appointing a Korean bishop to be prefect of the dicastery.
Father Matthias Young-yup Hur, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Seoul, remarked, “The new appointment of Archbishop You will be an opportunity for our Church to renew the attitude towards communicating with the other Catholic communities in the world while rethinking how we can provide support for those in need.”
