Cardinal Kim, RIP

Cardinal Kim died a few days ago. He was in his mid 80's and had been retired from active service for several years. Cardinal Kim was active in the democracy movement. Something like 375,000 people, including many non-Catholics came to pay their respects. I went but the line to see his body was 3-4km long. One of my friends waited in it for three hours before giving up. I waited 30 minutes to attend mass in the cathedral's crypt. I translated one of his speeches with my friend Kangri a couple of years ago for a translation class we were taking. Here are some pictures and videos from my visit:

As can be seen here the cathedral is very crowded. The top banner says "[Lord] grant eternal rest to Stephen Cardinal Kim Suhwan. The one below it says "Thank you. Love one another." I think he left a note by his bed before he died that said that.

Pictures of Cardinal Kim that lined the road up to the cathedral. In the picture on the right he is with Mother Theresa.

Outside of the cathedral were two large screen televisions that showed what was going on inside. The chanting sounds Buddhist but I think is the litany of the saints.



People entering the cathedral. The guy on the right has the job of bowing to people as they come in.



The line I stood in while waiting to attend mass.

For more on Cardinal Kim's life see this link:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2901164

God grant him rest!