Saint Andrew Kim Taegon and the Korean Martyrs
The first Korean priest, martyred at 25 together with many lay believers
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Martyr, Priest, Layperson
- Life
- 1821 – 1846
- Era
- 19th century
- Feast
- 20 September
- Countries
- South Korea
Life story
Catholicism reached Korea in the late eighteenth century not through missionaries but through Koreans who studied the faith themselves and formed communities. Major persecutions broke out several times, above all in 1801, 1839, 1846 and 1866. The Church remembers 103 martyrs from those persecutions, among them lay people and French missionaries, together with Andrew Kim himself, the only Korean priest in the group.
Andrew Kim Taegon was born in 1821 at Solmoe into a noble family that had already embraced the faith; his father, Ignatius Kim Je-jun, was also martyred, in 1839. French missionaries chose him for study at the seminary in Macao. He returned by a dangerous route and was ordained a priest in Shanghai in 1845, the first Korean to receive priestly ordination.
He tried to bring missionaries into the country by sea and was arrested in 1846 while doing so. On 16 September 1846 he was beheaded at Saenamteo, near Seoul, at the age of 25. A letter he wrote in prison survives.
Together with his fellow martyrs, such as the lay catechist Paul Chong Hasang, he was canonised by John Paul II during a visit to Seoul on 6 May 1984. In 1985 the pope named him patron of the Korean clergy. The martyrs share a common memorial on 20 September. Korean Catholic history is unusual in that the community existed for decades, led by lay people, before any priest arrived. The 1984 ceremony was also the first canonisation held by a pope outside Rome.
Works and witness
- First native Korean priest, ordained in Shanghai in 1845
- Trained at the Macao seminary chosen for him by French missionaries
- Beheaded on 16 September 1846 at the age of 25
- Canonised with 102 companions in Seoul in 1984
Patron of
Korean clergy
References
- Martyrologium Romanum
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
- Acta Apostolicae Sedis, canonisation of the Korean Martyrs, 1984
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.