Pope Benedict XVI honored 44 new archbishops from across the world including the newly appointed archbishop of Seoul Andrew Yeom Soo-jung at the Vatican Palace, Thursday, according to news reports.

Archbishop Yeom received the pallium ― the woolen liturgical vestment symbolic of the authority of a metropolitan archbishop. According to Catholic tradition, the pope confers the pallium on all new metropolitan archbishops on June 29, the day of the annual feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

Yeom thanked the pontiff for his interest in the South Korean church and asked for his prayers for North Korea, the Seoul Archdiocese said on Sunday.

“I thank you for your interest in the Korean church and the Seoul Archdiocese will expand its missionary role all over Asia,” Yeom was quoted as saying by the Seoul Catholic Church. “I ask for your prayers for North Korea,” added Yeom, who also serves as apostolic administrator of Pyongyang.

Last week, thousands of Catholic priests and believers congratulated Yeom who became the 14th archbishop appointed in the metropolitan city.

Yeom replaced outgoing Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, who retired from the top post of the Seoul Archdiocese last month. With the Vatican’s appointment, South Korea now has six archbishops.

Yeom leads the Seoul Archdiocese that has 27 percent of the Catholics of the country. Catholics account for 10.3 percent of the total population, or 5.3 million people, according to the latest statistics.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)