The Third Bishop of the Military Ordinariate
Established a Church within the JSA
The Catholic Military Ordinariate announced on May 28 that its third bishop, Bishop Yusu-il Francisco Javier, has passed away after a long illness. He was 80 years old.
According to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, Bishop Yusu-il passed away at around 1:16 p.m. that day in a hospital, surrounded by members of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan Order) and others.
Bishop Yusu-il was born in 1945 in Nonsan, Chungnam Province. He graduated from Daejeon High School and the Department of Education at Seoul National University, and entered the Order of Friars Minor in 1973. He graduated from Seoul Catholic Seminary in 1979 and was ordained a priest the following year.
He served as assistant priest at Seryudong Parish in the Suwon Diocese, parish priest at Chiramdong Parish in the Masan Diocese, director of the Institute of Theology for Religious, provincial minister of the Korean Province of the Order of Friars Minor, president of the Association of Major Superiors of Religious Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life of Korea, general councilor at the headquarters of the Order of Friars Minor in Rome and chair of the East Asia Conference, guardian (pastoral community leader) of St. Francis Monastery in Jeongdong, and vice-rector of the Seoul postulancy house, among other positions.
He was appointed as the third bishop of the Military Ordinariate in July 2010 and led the diocese for just over 10 years before retiring in February 2021. During his tenure, in 2019, Bishop Yusu-il established the JSA Church within the JSA Guard Battalion in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The JSA Church is known for being the closest church to North Korea.
The previous church at the JSA Guard Battalion originated from a semi-circular Quonset hut, a U.S. military facility completed in 1958. The U.S. military used this facility as a Protestant church until 2004. Afterward, the JSA Korean Guard Battalion took over management, and the facility was used alternately for Catholic Mass and Protestant worship services.
Around 2010, after consultations among the Catholic Church, Protestant Church, and the military, the building was designated as the JSA Church, and a separate Protestant church was built within the JSA.
The wake will be held at the underground chapel of the Franciscan Education Center of the Order of Friars Minor in Jung-gu, Seoul, and visitors may pay their respects after 6:00 p.m. on May 28.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on May 30 at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, officiated jointly by Bishop Seo Sangbeom, the current bishop of the Military Ordinariate, and Father Kim Sanguk, provincial minister (provincial superior) of the Korean Province of the Order of Friars Minor. The burial will take place at the provincial cemetery of the Order of Friars Minor on Seonggeosan Mountain in Cheonan, Chungnam Province.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
