St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions

�t.BORN 1822; DIED An�r 1846 (ANDREW KIMew TAEGON );Kim tion began again, and OTHERS DIED BETWEEN 1839-1846 AND 1862-1867 at least one hundred MARTYRS thirty Christians were FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 20 strangled, beaten to death, P Ta e�o n an� Com�a nions A U beheaded, or died of wounds L K E R R T. ANDREW KIM TAEGON and one hundred twelve inflicted in torture. IS others who make up the group of the Holy Mar- Baptized at the age of fif- Styrs of Korea were martyred between 1839 and teen, Andrew was the son of con- 1867. Most, one hundred and three, were Ko- verts Ignatius Kim, a farmer, and his wife. He left rean nationals; the other ten were French missionary Korea to train for the priesthood at the nearest bishops and priests. Most of the Korean martyrs, seminary, in the Portuguese colony of Macao off ninety-two, were lay men and women — forty-five the coast of China, a distance of thirteen hundred men and forty-seven women. Photographs exist of miles. Raised as he was under the threat of perse- the tortures inflicted on some of these saints. cution — his father was among those martyred in Almost uniquely in the history of the Church, 1839 — Andrew saw it as giving evidence of God’s the first steps in the evangelization of Korea were providence: “Persecution, therefore, can only be taken by laymen. Around 1770, a Korean diplo- regarded as the command of the Lord or as a prize mat in China, Chong Tu-won, brought to Korea he gives or as a punishment he permits.” He was a Chinese-language book on Catholic doctrine ordained in Shanghai and returned to his home- written by an Italian Jesuit who had evangelized land in 1845 as the first Korean priest, but was China in the first decade of the seventeenth cen- arrested less than a year later. During his three tury. Korean intellectuals were first interested in months of imprisonment, he wrote: “Do not let the book because it provided information about misfortunes frighten you, do not lose heart and European civilization, but soon became interest- do not shrink from serving God, but, following in ed in the Catholic faith. In 1773, these men asked the footsteps of the saints, promote the glory of the son of the ambassador, Yi Sang-hun, to meet his Church and show yourselves true soldiers and with Catholic missionaries to learn about the subjects of God. Even if you are many, be of one faith. His discovery led him to embrace Catholi- heart; always remember charity; support and help cism, and the following year he returned to Korea one another, and wait for the moment when God with books that enabled others to study the faith, will have mercy on you.” Following torture, he and soon they began evangelizing and even bap- was beheaded beside a riverbank near Seoul. tizing others in the same social class. This small In 1866 the final spasm of persecution be- group of Catholics eventually requested a priest gan, and by 1868 another two thousand Catho- from the Chinese mission, who was sent in 1795. lics had been martyred. Altogether it is thought Six years later, there were about ten thousand that about ten thousand Koreans died for their Korean Catholics. In this year, the first govern- faith in ten periods of persecution throughout ment persecution began; missionaries and per- the nineteenth century. These holy disciples haps three hundred lay Catholics were martyred were true servants of their Master: “A servant as threats to state-sanctioned ancestor-worship. is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, Catholics began to practice their faith secretly, they will persecute you” (Jn 15:20). Their fidelity suffering local persecutions in 1815 and 1827. to the faith and the total surrender of themselves In 1831, after repeated appeals from the Kore- to torture and death rather than reject God is a an Catholic community, one Chinese and sev- profound example for those who are lukewarm eral French priests were sent, who had to enter or casual about their faith and what it may re- the country secretly. Eight years later persecu- quire to gain eternal life.

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