Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, Archbishop-Bishop Emeritus of Daejeon, was born on 17 November 1951 in Nonsan-qun Chungnam and ordained a priest on 8 December 1979 for the Diocese of Daejeon. On 24 June 2003 he became coadjutor of the same diocese and two years later, its bishop. He chaired the Peace Committee of the Korean Bishops’ Conference and visited North Korea four times, carrying in his heart the prayer and hope for peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.
In August 2014, Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik welcomed Pope Francis to the Diocese of Daejeon on the occasion of the Sixth Asian Youth Day.
In October 2018, at the request of the Holy Father, he participated in the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Youth.
On 11 June 2021, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy by Pope Francis, who also conferred on him the title of Archbishop Emeritus of Daejeon.
On 11 December 2021 he was elected a member of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 27 August 2022, and was assigned the deaconry Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola.
Member of:
- Dicasteries: for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; for Bishops; for Evangelization, Section for Fundamental Questions of Evangelisation in the World; for Culture and Education; for Legislative Texts.