An old photo from the 1930’s of the Abbot-Bishop Bonifatius Sauer, OSB, Vicar Apostolic of Wok
An old photo from the 1930’s of the Abbot-Bishop Bonifatius Sauer, OSB, Vicar Apostolic of Woksan, ordaining a priest in the traditional rite in the Abbey of Tokwon. The Tokwon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Woksan, what is now North Korea. The monks, originally from Germany, branched from a monastery in Seoul and were devoted to missionary works. They built a minor & major seminary for the formation of new native priests. The abbey became the center of Catholic life in the region and the abbot was consecrated a bishop. There were about 60 monks and 20 religious sisters at a separate convent nearby. Sadly, the monastery fell under Soviet control at the end of the Second World War, followed by the communist regime of North Korea under Kim Il-Sung’s leadership. The monks were captured and many of them were either executed or died under extreme living conditions like starvation and forced labour. Bishop Sauer died on February 1, 1950, in a communist concentration camp in Pyongyang. His cause for beatification, together with 35 others, was opened in 2007. -- source link
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