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Church of the Life-Giving Trinity (Pyongyang)
Church in Pyongyang, North Korea From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity (Korean: 평양정백사원) is a Russian Orthodox church in Jongbaek-dong, Rangrang District in Pyongyang, North Korea.[1] It is the first and only Orthodox church in the country, serving the small Eastern Orthodox community in North Korea, and one of only a handful of Christian churches there overall.
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Kim Jong-il reportedly wanted to construct an Eastern Orthodox church in North Korea after a trip to the Russian Far East in 2002.[2] Kim had visited the St. Innocent of Irkutsk Church in Khabarovsk on 22 August and admired its architecture and Russian Orthodox rites.[3] A Russian diplomat asked Kim Jong-il whether there were any Orthodox believers in Pyongyang, and Kim replied that believers would be found.[4]
There were no Eastern Orthodox priests in the country, so the Korean Orthodox Committee, established in North Korea in 2002, contacted the Russian Orthodox Church.[5][6] The committee sent four students to the Moscow Ecclesiastical Seminary in April 2003.[1] All four were freshly baptized Christians who had formerly worked for the North Korean intelligence service. One of them, Feodor Kim (Kim Hoe-il), said it was difficult for them to adopt the Orthodox faith.[3] After the seminary, they were dispatched to Vladivostok to gain practical experience.[7]
The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 24 June 2003.[3] The church was dedicated on 13 August 2006 in the presence of Russian religious and political leaders.[8]
When the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, made an official visit to Pyongyang in 2024, he visited the church and participated in a brief liturgy.[9]
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Worship
The church is presided over by Rector Feodor Kim (Kim Hoe-il) and Deacon John Ra (Ra Gwan-chol), graduates of the theological seminary in Moscow.[3] Very few locals attend the church.[8]
The church has a parish of its own and is under the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia.[3] However, the Korean Orthodox Church claims that the Eastern Orthodox Church in North Korea is part of its jurisdiction.[10]
The shrine is consecrated with a relic of Sergius of Rakvere. The church also has a Holy Trinity icon.[11]
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