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New documentary on Korean missionary who served in Mongolia
Fr Stephen Kim Seong-Hyeon was assistant vicar general of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar Jun 18, 2025
Fr Stephan Kim Seong-Hyeon. (Photo: Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar via Asia News)
SEOUL: The Catholic priests' association in South Korea, in collaboration with a local Catholic newspaper, has launched a documentary to commemorate the life of a Korean priest who died while serving in Mongolia.
The documentary — Who is a priest? — was released on the YouTube channel of the Catholic Times of Korea, the Vatican's missionary news service Fides reported on June 17.
The documentary celebrates the life of Father Stephen Kim Seong-Hyeon, with testimonies from priests, nuns, and other Catholics.
Kim had served in Mongolia for 22 years until his sudden death on May 26, 2023, at the age of 55 due to a heart attack.
At the time of his death, he was the assistant vicar general of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar in the national capital.
The documentary, published on June 14, was produced in collaboration with the Association of Priests of the Prado Institute for the Province of Korea, of which Kim was a member.
Earlier in 2024, the Daejeon Diocese had co-produced another documentary on Kim titled "Wind of the Prairie - The Last Lecture of a Mongolian Missionary," in collaboration with the Catholic Times of Korea.
The documentary had won the award for best production in the Internet Radio category at the 34th Korea Catholic Mass Media Awards for its ability to convey Kim's 'profound spirituality,' Fides reported.
Kim, a clergy from South Korea's Daejeon Diocese, had worked extensively among Mongolians as a Fidei Donum missionary.
A Fidei Donum missionary is a priest or layperson sent by their diocese to serve in another diocese, often in a mission territory.
This practice, stemming from Pope Pius XII's 1957 encyclical "Fidei Donum," meaning "gift of faith,' aims to strengthen younger churches with personnel and resources from older, established ones.
Born in Daejeon of South Korea, in 1968, Kim was ordained a priest in 1998. He came to Mongolia as a missionary of the Daejeon Diocese in 2000.
He is credited with setting up a new parish and building the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Ulaanbaatar, two years after his arrival there.
The church is shaped like a Mongolian ger, a traditional Mongolian tent, located in Hang-ol, Ulaanbaatar.
Kim reportedly ran a minor seminary in a parish that offers a boarding facility for Mongolian boys. It is credited with raising the first native religious vocations for the priesthood.
He was also known to be an avid follower of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries.
In 2019, he was invited to participate in an Easter retreat for priests of the Prado in Fatima, Portugal, where he shared his missionary experience in Mongolia.
Kim adopted the nomadic lifestyle of Mongolians by living with a group of people in Erdenesant, a prairie land located about 200 kilometers from the national capital, after obtaining permission from the bishop.
For several years, he lived in a ger and taught Korean to young students in a school. He later returned to Ulaanbaatar, as called by the bishop, to serve as assistant vicar general.
The Mongolian Catholic Church has about 1,400 Catholics in a Buddhist-majority population of about 3.3
