|
Archbishop Thaddeus Cho Hwan-kil of Daegu promised during his installation ceremony today that he would be a pastor that communicates with the faithful as equals.
“The unity of the Church depends on the unity among bishops and priests and priests themselves. For the renewal of the archdiocese, we should be one respecting and loving each other,” Archbishop Cho said in his homily.
The installation ceremony was held at the major seminary in Daegu and attended by 30 bishops including Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk and Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, apostolic nuncio to Korea, and 3,000 faithful.
Archbishop Padilla presented the papal letter of appointment to the new Daegu archbishop.
“Why does the world try to divide us? As Bishop Peter Kang U-il, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea said, we should gather together under the flag of Jesus Christ,” said the new archbishop, implying the recent Church dispute on the government’s river project.
Archbishop Cho told the audience that his appointment was the pope’s consideration for our archdiocese, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year. As “the call of God, I’ll try to be the guide of saintly virtues for the faithful,” he said.
The chair of Daegu archdiocese has been vacant since August 2009 when the late Archbishop John Choi Young-soo resigned.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Cho Hwan-kil of Daegu as the 10th ordinary of the archdiocese on Nov. 4.
He was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of Daegu in 2007, while serving as president of the archdiocese-run daily Maeil Shinmun.
Archbishop Cho was born in Daegu (Taegu) on Nov. 7, 1954, and ordained a priest in 1981.
Daegu archdiocese had 154 parishes, 461 priests and 450,826 parishioners, according to 2009 statistics.