South Korean bishop, former head of military diocese, dies at age 72

Published: 2007-06-01

SEOUL, South Korea (CNS) -- Bishop Augustine Cheong Myong-jo of Pusan, former head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea and Korea's military diocese, died early June 1 at the age of 72. Bishop Cheong died at a Catholic-run hospital in Pusan after an 18-month battle with lung cancer, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. The bishop's body was transferred to Namchon Cathedral, where he lived. A funeral was scheduled for June 4. He will be buried in a Catholic cemetery in Pusan. Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul acknowledged Bishop Cheong for loving people who suffered and for being a good pastor with a "free and easy" personality. "He tried his best as pastor, despite his own suffering," the cardinal said in a message. Father Kwon Ji-ho, a parish priest in Pusan, told UCA News May 31 that Bishop Cheong was diligent and faithful in his work and that "he had such an easy personality that many priests thought of him as an elder brother or father."

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