Home > National > Social Affairs

Pope Leo XIV gives blessings to Daejeon bakery Sungsimdang for 70th anniversary

Published: 02 Jan. 2026, 10:14

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, during his weekly general audience at the Vatican on Dec. 31, 2025. [AFP/YONHAP]

Pope Leo XIV has praised the social contributions of Sungsimdang, a long-established bakery in Korea’s central city of Daejeon, in a message marking the company’s 70th anniversary, the bakery said Thursday.

Sungsimdang said Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy, delivered the signed message during his visit to Korea last month.

The pope said he was offering his blessings to Sungsimdang as it marked its 70th anniversary, expressing gratitude to God for the bakery’s long history in Daejeon.

He praised the company for what he described as significant social and economic achievements over the years, noting its efforts to promote fraternity and solidarity based on an “economy for all” model, particularly in support of the poorest, and encouraged it to continue those activities.

Founded in 1956 as an open-air steamed bun stall in front of Daejeon Station, Sungsimdang has grown into one of Korea’s most recognizable bakeries and has donated bread to low-income residents for decades.

Customers line up to buy bread at Sungsimdang in Jung District, Daejeon, on Dec. 23, 2025. [NEWS1]

CEO Lim Young-jin said the company’s guiding principle has remained unchanged since its early days.

“From the time we sold steamed buns from a tent in front of Daejeon Station until now, our one wish has been to make the world around us better through the way we live,” he said.

That belief, he said, has become the cornerstone of the company and underpins its management philosophy of an “economy for all.”

“For us, bread is not only a means of making a living, but also a value and a driving force for strengthening the local economy, building a community of love and addressing the problem of poverty," Lim said.

He said the bakery would continue working toward “doing what is good for everyone through bread.”

In recognition of these efforts, Lim received the Order of St. Gregory the Great from the Vatican in 2015. His wife, Kim Mi-jin, a director at the company, received the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 2019.

During Pope Francis’ visit to Korea in August 2014, Sungsimdang provided ciabatta and baguettes for the pontiff’s breakfast.

Cardinal You began his ministry in Daejeon in 1983 as a senior assistant priest at Daeheung-dong Cathedral, the seat of the Daejeon Diocese, and served as bishop of Daejeon from 2005 to 2021.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]