The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity () is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

church in Jongbaek-dong, Rangrang District in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. It is the first and only Orthodox church in the country, and one of only a handful of Christian churches there overall.

History

Kim Jong-il reportedly wanted to construct an Eastern Orthodox church in North Korea after a trip to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

in 2002. Kim had visited the St. Innocent of Irkutsk Church in Khabarovsk on 22 August and admired its architecture and Russian Orthodox rites. A Russian diplomat asked Kim Jong-il whether there were any Orthodox believers in Pyongyang, and Kim replied that believers would be found. There were no Eastern Orthodox priests in the country, so the established in 2002 contacted the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. The committee sent four students to the Moscow Ecclesiastical Seminary in April 2003. 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. After the seminary, they were dispatched to

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...

to gain practical experience. The

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are ...

ceremony was held on 24 June 2003. The church was dedicated on 13 August 2006 in the presence of Russian religious and political leaders.

Worship

The church is presided over by

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Feodor Kim (Kim Hoe-il) and

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

John Ra (Ra Gwan-chol), graduates of the theological seminary in Moscow. The church has a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of its own and is under the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia. However, the

Korean Orthodox Church The Korean Orthodox Church ( ko, 한국 정교회) or Metropolis of Korea is an Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox diocese under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Korea (''de facto'' in South Korea).

claims Eastern Orthodox Church in North Korea are part of the

. The shrine is consecrated with a relic of . The church also has a

Holy Trinity Icon The Holy Trinity is an important subject of icons in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and has a rather different treatment from depictions in the Western Churches. There are two different types of Holy Trinity icons: the ''Old Testament Trinity'' ...

. Very few locals attend.

References

External links

Korean Eparchy of the Moscow PatriarchateKorean Orthodox Church Becomes Separate Metropolis; Begins Dialogue With New Orthodox Group in North KoreaRussian Orthodox Christians celebrate Pentecost in Pyongyang
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120617185816/http://www.dprk.mid.ru/xpam.html Православный Храм Святой Живоначальной Троицы В Пхеньяне
Русский священник в Пхеньяне радуется за северокорейцев – жить сложно, но они истинные патриоты

"Bells of an Orthodox Church Ring"
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...

{{Portal bar, North Korea, Christianity 2006 establishments in North Korea Russian Orthodox church buildings in North Korea Buildings and structures in Pyongyang Churches completed in 2007 Christian organizations established in 2007 North Korea–Russia relations

History

Worship

See also

References

External links