Country North Korea Dedication Holy Trinity Groundbreaking 24 June 2003 | Denomination Eastern Orthodox Status Parish church | |
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Location Jongbaek-dong, Rangrang District, Pyongyang Dedicated 13 August 2006 (2006-08-13) Relics held Sergius of Rakvere (ru) | ||
The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity is an Eastern Orthodox church in Jongbaek-dong, Rangrang District in Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the first and only Orthodox church in the country, and one of only a handful of churches there overall.
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History
Kim Jong-il reportedly wanted to construct an Eastern Orthodox church in North Korea after a trip to the Russian Far East in 2002. Kim had visited the Church of St. Innocent Innokentiy of Irkutsk in Khabarovsk on 22 August and admired its architecture and Russian Orthodox rites.
There were no Eastern Orthodox priests in the country, so the Orthodox Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea established in 2002 contacted the Russian Orthodox Church. 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 to gain practical experience.
The groundbreaking 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 Feodor Kim (Kim Hoe-il) and deacon John Ra (Ra Gwan-chol), graduates of the theological seminary in Moscow.
The church has a parish of its own and is under the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia.
The shrine is consecrated with a relic of Sergius of Rakvere. The church also has a Holy Trinity Icon.
Very few locals attend.