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Catholic Church in North Korea. There is a tiny minority of Roman Catholics in North Korea (probably between 3000 to 4000 out of 22 million). There are no priests, however, so mass is only said when …More
Catholic Church in North Korea.

There is a tiny minority of Roman Catholics in North Korea (probably between 3000 to 4000 out of 22 million). There are no priests, however, so mass is only said when foreign clergy are visiting; there have been no ordinations in the North since the Korean War. There are less than a 1000 in Pyonyang, which is where this video was filmed in 1988. This is the only catholic church left in the country (there are two other places than this where the government allows worship).

Before 1950 there were estimated 100,000 catholics in what is now North Korea with 60 priests. Many of them were martyred in the following years, but in the late 1980s the government officially recognized and a government controlled catholic association was set up. Christians in North Korea still face violent persecution according to reports the get out.