Korean Cardinal Lazzaro You praises 1924 Shanghai Council as turning point for Catholic inculturation in China and Korea, urging renewed evangelization.
Newsroom (20/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) The First Council of Shanghai (Concilium Sinense), held from May to June 1924, remains a watershed moment for Catholicism in East Asia a full century later, Korean Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik told participants at a Seoul symposium on Saturday.
Speaking via video link from Rome, where he serves as Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, Cardinal You described the 1924 assembly as “a fundamental turning point in the history of the Catholic Church in China” that also “had a profound impact on the Korean Church.” He noted that the Holy See continues to “actively pursue the path of dialogue initiated by Archbishop Celso Costantini,” the Apostolic Delegate who convened the council after decades of repeated attempts spanning more than six decades.
The symposium, titled “The Council of Shanghai: Positive Impact on the Inculturation of the Church in East Asia,” was held November 15 at the Spirituality Center of the Archdiocese of Seoul (Myeongdong Cathedral). Cardinal You recalled his own participation in the council’s centenary commemoration on May 21, 2024, at Rome’s Pontifical Urbaniana University, where he “had the honor of forging a new friendship” with Shanghai Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, one of the event’s speakers.
The cardinal stressed that the Shanghai Council marked Europe’s first decisive step toward handing ecclesiastical jurisdiction to local Asian clergy, breaking from long-standing Eurocentric models. Its emphasis on inculturation – planting the faith deeply within national cultures – directly influenced Korea, he said, pointing to the participation of German Benedictine Bishop Bonifatius Sauer OSB (1877–1950), then Apostolic Vicar of Wonsan (present-day North Korea), as clear evidence of the council’s regional reach.
“This change of perspective helped the Church in Korea take root and grow within its own culture,” Cardinal You explained, adding that the same principle spurred the training of native Korean priests and a departure from imported European structures.
Expressing regret at being unable to attend in person, the cardinal called the Seoul gathering “a valuable opportunity to reflect deeply on the historical foundations of the Catholic Church in Korea and to prepare for the future.” He urged participants to let the symposium become “a milestone in reaffirming the Catholic Church in Korea as a center of evangelization in Asia.”
In a time of global turbulence, Cardinal You invoked Korea’s martyrs: “Let us contemplate our courageous martyrs who lived their faith until death. May we, their descendants, build a future filled with new hope.”
The academic event was jointly organized by the Korean Institute of Church History (dir. Fr. Francisco Jo Han-geon), the Association for Studies on the Catholic Church in Asia (chair: Prof. Shin Ui-sik Melchior), and the Institute of Theology at Sogang Jesuit University (dir. Fr. Raffaele Lee Jin-hyun).
Presentations included:
- Prof. Paul Choi Byeong-wook (Kangwon National University) on the Concilium Sinense and the role of Archbishop Costantini
- Daegun Andrea Lee Min-seok (Korean Institute of Church History) on the council’s influence on Korean inculturation and local priestly formation in the Pyongyang diocese
- Fr. Leopold Leeb (Renmin University of China) on the historical context and significance of the 1924 council
- Prof. Liu Zhiqing (Anyang University) on the council’s impact on the inculturation of Chinese Catholicism
The symposium underscored continuing scholarly interest in the 1924 council’s legacy one hundred years after it gathered, for the first time in history, all bishops and major superiors active in China to chart an indigenous future for the Church in Asia.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Fides News
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