Korean Martyrs
Encyclopedia
The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against the Catholic Church during the 19th century in Korea
. At least 8,000 adherents to the faith were known to have been killed during this persecution, 103 of whom were canonized
en masse in 1984.
of the aristocratic classes (as they were the only ones who could read the books that were written in Chinese) until the arrival of the first French missionaries in 1836.
The Catholic community suffered major persecutions in the years 1839, 1846 and 1866, chiefly for the religion's refusal to carry out the traditional worship of ancestors
, which it perceived to be a form of false idolatry
, but which the State prescribed as a cornerstone of culture.
Politically, the persecutions should be seen in the context of colonialism
and the increasing penetration of European powers into East Asian affairs. Catholicism — a proselytizing European faith seen as rendering its adherents constituent to a dominant hierarchical structure, at the apex of which a pope held sway from the distant Vatican
— was oft perceived as a potential spearhead for European penetration into Korea. Moreover, ancestral worship was an important aspect of Confucianism
, from which the Korean nobility
drew much of its inviolable legitimacy; relinquishing such customs could thus be seen as subverting the nobility's own cultural foundation. While the persecution of Catholics played a certain role in staving off European military incursions, a more proximate threat to Korean social order would prove to be the nation's non-Christian imperialist neighbor, Japan
.
The persecutions produced at least 8,000 known martyr
s. Among them were the fervent Korean priest
Andrew Kim Taegŏn
and the Korean lay catechist Paul Chŏng Hasang
. The vast majority of the martyrs were simple lay people, including men and women, married and single, old and young. 79 martyrs of Korea were beatified in 1925 and 24 more were beatified in 1968 and the combined 103 martyrs were canonized in 1984, with their feast day set on September 20. Currently, Korea has the 4th largest number of saints in the Catholic world.
From the last letter of Andrew Kim Taegŏn to his parish as he awaited martyrdom with a group of twenty persons:
Claude-Charles Dallet
wrote a comprehensive history of the Catholic Church in Korea.
The Korean Martyrs were known for the staunchness, sincerity, and number of their converts.
They were canonized in May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
. In a break with tradition, the ceremony did not take place in Rome
, but in Seoul
.
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. At least 8,000 adherents to the faith were known to have been killed during this persecution, 103 of whom were canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
en masse in 1984.
History
Catholicism had entered Korea in the seventeenth century by means of books written by Jesuit missionaries in China and brought back by visitors to Beijing. Although no Koreans were converted to Catholicism by these books until the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the ideas of the Catholic priests espoused in them were debated and denounced as heterodox as early as 1724. The strong and dynamic Catholic communities were led almost entirely by educated lay peopleLaity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
of the aristocratic classes (as they were the only ones who could read the books that were written in Chinese) until the arrival of the first French missionaries in 1836.
The Catholic community suffered major persecutions in the years 1839, 1846 and 1866, chiefly for the religion's refusal to carry out the traditional worship of ancestors
Veneration of the dead
Veneration of the dead is based on the belief that the deceased, often family members, have a continued existence and/or possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living...
, which it perceived to be a form of false idolatry
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
, but which the State prescribed as a cornerstone of culture.
Politically, the persecutions should be seen in the context of colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
and the increasing penetration of European powers into East Asian affairs. Catholicism — a proselytizing European faith seen as rendering its adherents constituent to a dominant hierarchical structure, at the apex of which a pope held sway from the distant Vatican
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican...
— was oft perceived as a potential spearhead for European penetration into Korea. Moreover, ancestral worship was an important aspect of Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
, from which the Korean nobility
Korean nobility
Korean monarchy and native nobility existed in Korea until the end of the Japanese occupation. In Imperial Korea, nobles continued to hold noble titles, which included che, wang and kun.-Original titles:...
drew much of its inviolable legitimacy; relinquishing such customs could thus be seen as subverting the nobility's own cultural foundation. While the persecution of Catholics played a certain role in staving off European military incursions, a more proximate threat to Korean social order would prove to be the nation's non-Christian imperialist neighbor, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The persecutions produced at least 8,000 known martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s. Among them were the fervent Korean priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
Andrew Kim Taegŏn
Andrew Kim Taegon
St. Andrew Kim Taegon aka Butterfly King was the first Korean-born Catholic priest. In the late 18th century, Roman Catholicism began to take root slowly in Korea, and was introduced by laypeople...
and the Korean lay catechist Paul Chŏng Hasang
Paul Chong Hasang
Paul Chong Hasang was one of the Korean Martyrs.He was the son of the martyr Augustine Jeong Yak-Jong and a nephew of noted philosopher John Jeong Yak-Yong, who were among the first converts of Korea, who wrote the first catechism for the Roman Catholic Church in Korea .When Yakjong was martyred...
. The vast majority of the martyrs were simple lay people, including men and women, married and single, old and young. 79 martyrs of Korea were beatified in 1925 and 24 more were beatified in 1968 and the combined 103 martyrs were canonized in 1984, with their feast day set on September 20. Currently, Korea has the 4th largest number of saints in the Catholic world.
From the last letter of Andrew Kim Taegŏn to his parish as he awaited martyrdom with a group of twenty persons:
- My dear brothers and sisters, know this: Our Lord JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
ChristChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
upon descending into the world took innumerable pains upon and constituted the holy Church through his own passionPassion (Christianity)The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
and increases it through the passion of its faithful....
- Now, however, some fifty or sixty years since the 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 I am 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 HeavenHeavenHeaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, we may greet one another. I leave you my kiss of love.
Claude-Charles Dallet
Claude-Charles Dallet
Claude-Charles Dallet was a Catholic missionary who is best known for his work, The History of the Church of Korea ....
wrote a comprehensive history of the Catholic Church in Korea.
The Korean Martyrs were known for the staunchness, sincerity, and number of their converts.
Some individual martyrs
- Andrew Kim TaegonAndrew Kim TaegonSt. Andrew Kim Taegon aka Butterfly King was the first Korean-born Catholic priest. In the late 18th century, Roman Catholicism began to take root slowly in Korea, and was introduced by laypeople...
and his father Ignatius - Paul Chong HasangPaul Chong HasangPaul Chong Hasang was one of the Korean Martyrs.He was the son of the martyr Augustine Jeong Yak-Jong and a nephew of noted philosopher John Jeong Yak-Yong, who were among the first converts of Korea, who wrote the first catechism for the Roman Catholic Church in Korea .When Yakjong was martyred...
, - Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert, a bishop
- Siméon-François BerneuxSiméon-François BerneuxSiméon-François Berneux was a French Catholic missionary, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who was canonized as a saint....
, a bishop - Shane Lee, another bishop
- another bishop
- seven priests
- members of the Paris Foreign Missions SocietyParis Foreign Missions SocietyThe Society of Foreign Missions of Paris is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious order, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands....
- Peter Yu Tae-cholPeter Yu Tae-cholSaint Peter Yu Tae-chol was one of the 103 Korean Martyrs and a son of a government interpreter named Augustine Nyou Tjin-kil, also a martyr. Peter's mother and sisters were enemies of Catholicism and ill-treated Peter...
, a 13-year-old boy - Mary Yi Yon-hui
- Anna Pak AgiAnna Pak AgiSaint Anna Pak Agi is one of 103 Korean Martyrs.Anna was naturally slow, and she had great difficulty in learning the truths of religion. She consoled herself by saying, "Since I cannot know my God as I should desire to do, I will at least endeavour to loveHim with all my heart."She married a...
- Thomas Son ChasonThomas Son ChasuhnThomas Son Chason was one of the Korean Martyrs canonised by the Roman Catholic church in 1984.Thomas was a devout Catholic. When Bishop Daveluy was arrested, an authority commissioned anybody to claim the confiscated objects. Everyone was too afraid to go and claim the Church property, and...
- John Baptist YJohn Baptist YJohn Baptist Y was one of the 103 Korean Martyrs. John embraced Roman Catholicism with his elder brother when he was 28 years old. His fervor attracted the attention of the catechists, who sent him to Beijing to negotiate affairs of religion. The priests of the capital, in admiration of his piety,...
i
They were canonized in May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
. In a break with tradition, the ceremony did not take place in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, but in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
.
See also
- Anna Pak AgiAnna Pak AgiSaint Anna Pak Agi is one of 103 Korean Martyrs.Anna was naturally slow, and she had great difficulty in learning the truths of religion. She consoled herself by saying, "Since I cannot know my God as I should desire to do, I will at least endeavour to loveHim with all my heart."She married a...
- Andrew Kim TaegonAndrew Kim TaegonSt. Andrew Kim Taegon aka Butterfly King was the first Korean-born Catholic priest. In the late 18th century, Roman Catholicism began to take root slowly in Korea, and was introduced by laypeople...
- Laurent-Marie-Joseph ImbertSaint Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert-Biography:Imbert was born at Marignane. He studied at the seminary of the Missions Étrangères de Paris, France in 1818.Ordained on 18 December 1819, he was sent as a missionary to China in 1820....
- Christianity in KoreaChristianity in KoreaThe practice of Christianity in Korea revolves around two of its largest branches, Protestantism and Catholicism, accounting for 8.6 million and 5.1 million members respectively. Roman Catholicism was first introduced during the late Joseon Dynasty period...
- Roman Catholicism in South KoreaRoman Catholicism in South KoreaThe Roman Catholic Church in South Korea is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. The history of Catholicism in Korea began in 1784 when Yi Sung-hun was baptized while in China under the Christian name of Peter...
- SeohakSeohakSeohak was the introduction of technology, philosophy and most prominently, Catholicism and Western ideas to Joseon Korea in the 18th century. It is also occasionally referred to as Cheonjuhak which means 'Heavenly Learning'.-History:...
- Catholic Persecution of 1801Catholic Persecution of 1801The Catholic Persecution of 1801, also known as the Sinyu Persecution , was a mass persecution of Korean Catholics ordered by regent Dowager Queen Jeongsun during King Sunjo of Joseon's reign on April 8, 1801 ....
- Robert Jermain ThomasRobert Jermain ThomasRobert Jermain Thomas was a Protestant Christian missionary who served with the London Missionary Society in late Qing Dynasty China and Korea....