by Theresa Kim Hwa-young

Four months on from the death of the former Archbishop of Seoul, the demonstrations of respect and esteem that marked the days of his funeral continue.

Seoul (AsiaNews) -  Korea Railroad has announced the creation of a special train for visitors to the tomb of Card. Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (see photo). The Korean States Railway has named the service: Worship train of late Cardinal Kim. It will allow the faithful to reach the stations of Souwon or Gwangmyong from any area in the country, and from there they will be bussed to Yongin-shi Moheyon-myeon where the prelate is buried.

 Card. Stephen Kim Sou-hwan led the Archdiocese of Seoul for over 30 years from 1968 to 1998.  He died February 16th this year and his funeral was attended by over 10 thousand people. The people of South Korea, not only Catholics, always showed great affection and respect for the cardinal.  This emerged to an even greater extent during the aftermath of his funeral with long queues forming outside the Cathedral of Myeongdong and an increase in eye donations following the Archbishops example.

Korea Railroad explains its decision: “the desire to cherish the memory of late Cardinal Kim remains alive in the hearts of Korean Catholics as well as non Catholics; however, they cannot express it because of transportation problems. We want our project to operate special train service line for the sake of Cardinal Kim and his in order to help the faithful who support him”.

The Catholics of South Korea count for 30% of the 48 million inhabitants.  Recent statistics released from the Bishops Conference reveals that their numbers increased during 2008 to count a total of 5 million faithful. Priestly vocations are also on the increase as well as vocations to religious life confirming a positive tendency that the church in Korea has been experiencing for over a decade.

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