Cardinal Stephen Kim Dies At 86

Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, one of the most revered religious leaders in Korea, died Monday. He was 86.

Cardinal Kim was sent to Gangnam St. Mary's Hospital due to his frail condition in July last year and had been reportedly in a critical condition before falling into a coma briefly early Saturday morning. He passed away at 6:12 p.m. Monday.

He was born as the youngest of seven siblings in a poor but devout Catholic family in the southeast city of Daegu in 1922. His grandfather died in prison after being persecuted for being a Roman Catholic. He studied philosophy at Sophia University in Tokyo from 1941 to 1944 and the Catholic University of Korea from 1947 to 1951.

In 1963, he went to Germany to study theology and sociology at the Munster University and his educational drive went on as he received honorary doctorates from many universities throughout his career, including Seoul National University, Seton Hall University of the United States and the Ateneo de Manila University of the Philippines.

I did not know that the Cardinal and me studied at the same university. =) I studied at the Ateneo de Manila University of the Philippines where I earned my degree of AB Sociology.