The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (; ), informally known as Myeongdong Cathedral (), is the national cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul. Located in the Myeongdong neighborhood of Jung District, Seoul, South Korea, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Seoul, Peter Chung Soon-taick.
The shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception honored as the principal Patroness of Korea by a Pontifical decree accorded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1841. The cathedral serves as a community landmark, tourist attraction, and a notable symbol of Roman Catholicism in Korea. The South Korean government assigned the cathedral as a historic site (No. # 258) on 22 November 1977.
History
Christianity was heavily persecuted during the Joseon period. Still, interest in it grew as an academic novelty, notably among members of the Silhak (실학; "practical learning") school, attracted to what they saw as its egalitarian values. Catholicism gained ground as a belief in the 19th century through the work of French missionaries, the persecutions of whom led to an 1866 French punitive expedition.
After the Joseon dynasty concluded a commercial treaty with United States in 1882, Marie-Jean-Gustave Blanc, M.E.P., Apostolic Vicar of Korea, sought land to build a mission. Under the name Kim Gamilo, he acquired a vacant lot on Jonghyeon (Chong-Hyen), meaning "Bell Hill"; due to its proximity to a Confucian temple, Koreans had declined to build there. A school was constructed, and plans to build a church placed under the supervision of French priest Eugène Jean George Coste at the end of the diplomatic trade treaty between Korea and France in 1887. At this site, the first Joseon diocese was erected and a building was constructed to grow seminarians by approximately 60 rooms, which was presented to Pope Leo XIII to convince him to separate the territory from the Diocese of Beijing.
At first, Emperor Gojong of Korea opposed the construction of the cathedral and threatened to confiscate the land in 1887. On 28 April 1888, he tasked the trade minister Byong-Sik Cho to press the American, Russian and Italian governments to stop funding the cathedral, and the Korean government placed a decree of restriction against the circulation of gold currency, in an attempt to slow construction. Accounts say Gojong supported this move, partly due to his disdain that a building was built higher than his palace.
Nevertheless, he eventually became convinced of the value of having a Christian cathedral, and conceded to hold the cornerstone ceremony on 5 August 1892. Construction cost approximately US$60,000, supported by the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Because of the First Sino-Japanese War, however, and the subsequent death of substitute Bishop Eugène Jean George Coste, the inauguration of the cathedral was postponed for several years. On 29 May 1898, it was finally dedicated and consecrated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin and was inaugurated as the Jong-Hyun Cathedral. At its construction, it was the largest building in Seoul.
In 1900, the relics of the Korean Martyrs who died in the 1866 persecution were moved to its crypt from the seminary in Yongsan-gu. In 1924, a pipe organ was installed at the church but due to the famine of the Korean War was looted and later destroyed.
On 22 November 1977, the Korean government assigned the cathedral as Historic Site No. 258, identifying it as a prime cultural property and asset of the country.
The Roman Catholic clergy were among the leading critics of South Korea's military rule in the 1970s and 1980s, and Myeongdong Cathedral became a center of Minjung political and labor protest as well as a sanctuary for the protesters; indeed, it was nicknamed the "Mecca" of pro-democracy activists. Catholic and future President Kim Dae-jung held a rally at the cathedral in 1976 to demand the resignation of President Park Chung Hee, and some 600 student-led protesters staged a hunger strike inside in 1987 after the torture and death of university student Park Jong-chol.
The cathedral remains a popular spot for protesters, due to the government's previous disinclination to arrest protesters inside church property. In 2000, the cathedral attempted to officially ban protesters who did not have prior approval after a protest of telecommunications labor unions beat female churchgoers and vandalized church property.
The cathedral offers the Holy Mass for foreigners on Sunday mornings, while the rest of its services are in Korean.