Korean Martyrs
| Korean Martyrs | |
|---|---|
 Korean Martyrs | |
| Martyrs | |
| Born | Various |
| Died | 1839, 1846, 1866 |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholicism |
| Beatified | 1925, 1968 |
| Canonized | May 6, 1984, Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea |
| Feast | September 20 |
A religious martyr is a person who is killed as a result of maintaining and practicing religious faith. In the early years of the Christian faith in Korea, several thousand Christians, most of them Roman Catholics, were martyred. The Catholic faith came to Korea at the beginning of the 17th century, during the Joseon period, a time when outside influence of any kind was not welcomed in Korea. Catholicism was seen as a threat to the state ideology of Confucianism, and many Catholic monks, priests and lay members were executed, producing as many as 8,000 or more martyrs.
The Early Christian Church in Korea
The Roman Catholic church began in Korea at the beginning of the 17th century, brought by Koreans who had met the faith and been converted in China. They also brought translations of the scriptures from China, and the strong and dynamic Catholic communities were led almost entirely by lay people until the arrival of the first Catholic missionaries from France in 1836. The protestant churches did not start sending missionaries until nearly 50 years later, in 1884.
Catholic Martyrs
The Catholic community suffered major persecutions in the years 1839, 1846 and 1866, producing at least 8,000 known martyrs, killed for following a false religion. Among them were the fervent Korean priest Andrew Kim Taegeon and the Korean lay catechist Paul Cheong Hasang. The vast majority of the martyrs were simple lay people, including men and women, married and single, old and young. The members of this group of martyrs have been canonized as saints, with feast day September 20. Currently, Korea has the 4th largest number of saints in the Catholic world.
Protestant Martyrs
North Korean Martyrs
Legacy
Although the history of Catholicism in Korea is relatively short, as a result of the brutal persecutions of the church by the Joseon court, the number of martyrs is quite high, and Korea is the country has the 4th largest number of Catholic saints. Pope John Paul II broke with tradition and held a canonization ceremony in Seoul, bestowing sainthood on 103 of the Korean Martyrs.
The courage and sacrifice of the Korean Catholic Church is well known outside Korea, and there are more than a dozen Catholic Churches in North America bearing the name Church of the Korean Martyrs.
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From the last letter of Andrew Kim Taegeon to his parish as he awaited martyrdom with a group of twenty persons:
- My dear brothers and sisters, know this: Our Lord Jesus Christ upon descending into the world took innumerable pains upon and constituted the holy Church through his own passion and increases it through the passion of its faithful....
- Now, however, some fifty or sixty years since holy Church entered into our Korea, the faithful suffer persecutions again. Even today persecution rages, so that many of our friends of the same faith, among whom am I myself, have been thrown into prison. just as you also remain in the midst of persecution. Since we have formed one body, how can we not be saddened in our innermost hearts? How can we not experience the pain of separation in our human faculties?
- However, as Scripture says, God cares for the least hair of our heads, and indeed he cares with his omniscience; therefore, how can persecution be considered as anything other than the command of God, or his prize, or precisely his punishment?...
- We are twenty here, and thanks be to God all are still well. If anyone is killed, I beg you not to forget his family. I have many more things to say, but how can I express them with pen and paper? I make an end to this letter. Since we are now close to the struggle, I pray you to walk in faith, so that when you have finally entered into Heaven, we may greet one another. I leave you my kiss of love.
Individual martyrs include:
- Martyrs from the Shinyu Persecution (1801)
- Chung Yakjong, father of Paul Hasang Chung
- Zhou (Chu) Munmo, Chinese, Korea's only priest at the time
- Yi Kyongdo Charles
- Yi Sooni Lutgardis
- Martyrs from the Gihye Persection (1839)
*Andrew Kim Taegon and his father Ignatius
- Paul Chung Hasang, (1795-1839), who worked tirelessly as a lay leader to helped establish the early Korean Catholic Church, traveling back and forth to China many times to rebuild the church after the Shinyu persection, and finally gaining official recognition for the Korean Church from Rome on Sept. 9, 1831. He studied for the priesthood under Bishop Imbert, but was killed in the Gihye persecution, before becoming a priest. Canonized May 6, 1984.
- Yu Cecilia, mother of Paul Chung Hasang, died in prison in 1839
- Chung Junghye, younger sister of Paul Chung Hasang, canonized May 6, 1984.
- Among nine faithful who were beheaded on May 24, 1839 are:
- Kim Obi Magdalene (1774-1839. Canonized May 6, 1984
- Kim Agi Agatha (1787-1839). Baptized in prison 1839. Canonized May 6, 1984
- Han Agi Barbara (1792-1839). Canonized May 6, 1984
- Nam Myonghyeok Damian, a leader of the Catholic Church beginning in the 1820's
- Kwon Tugin Peter
- Pak Agi Anna
- Yi Hwanghon Augustine
- Park Huisun Lucy
- Yi Agatha, sister of Yi Hoyong Peter
- Yu Chingil Augustine (1791-1839), one of just a few government officials in the Catholic Church, father of Yu Taecheol Peter, baptized in 1824 in China, executed September 22, 1839, one of the 103 Korean Saints
- Yu Taecheol Peter, a thirteen-year old boy, youngest of the 103 Korean Martyr Saints.
- Among 8 Catholics beheaded on July 20th, 1839, the first group to be martyred after Cho Pyongku issued a decree that the Church be completely eliminated.
- Kim Songim Martha (1787-1839)
- Yi Magdalena
- Ye Theresa
- Kim Lucy
- Won Kwi-im Maria, beaten badly and
- Kim, Rosa
- Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert, a bishop
Won Lucy, relative of Won Kwi-im Maria, who taught about the Catholic faith
- Bishop Daveluy
- two other bishops
- seven priests
- members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society
- Mary Yi Yon-hui
- Anne Pak A-gi
- Kim Barbara (1805-1839) died of disease while in prison. One of the 103 Korean Saints
They were canonized in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. In a break with tradition, the ceremony did not take place in Rome, but in Seoul.
See also
- Andrew Kim Taegon
- Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert
- Christianity in Korea
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Attwater, Donald, and Catherine Rachel John. 1995. The Penguin dictionary of saints. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780140513127
- Kim, Chang-seok Thaddeus, and Choong-woo Andreas Lee. 1986. Holy places of the Korean martyrs. Seoul: Lay Apostolate Council of Korea. OCLC: 50093397
- MacMahon, Hugh. 1995. The Korean martyr saints: founders of a church. Seoul: St. Hwang Sŏk Tu Luke Pub. House. ISBN 9788985996020
External links
- APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO KOREA: MASS FOR THE CANONIZATION OF KOREAN MARTYRS. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
- Catholic Culture: Stories of the Korean Martyrs. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
- Catholic Online: Martyrs of Korea. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
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