Today, the Church celebrates the liturgical Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon (21 August 1821 - 16 September 1846), who was the first Korean-born Catholic priest and the patron saint of that country.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, Roman Catholicism began to slowly take root in Korea, introduced by scholars who visited China and brought back Western books translated into Chinese. In 1836 the first consecrated missionaries (members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society) arrived, only to find out that the people there were already practicing Korean Catholics.
Saint Andrew's parents were converts and his father was subsequently martyred for practising Christianity, a prohibited activity in heavily Confucian Korea. After being baptized at age 15, Andrew studied at a seminary in the Portuguese colony of Macau. He also spent time in study at Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines, where today he is also venerated. He was ordained a priest in Shanghai after nine years (1844) and then returned to Korea to preach and evangelize. Like Saint Paul, Saint Andrew handed on to his contemporaries as of first importance what he also had received (1 Cor 15:3): faith and belief in Jesus.
During the Joseon Dynasty, Christianity was suppressed and many Christians were persecuted and executed. Catholics had to covertly practise their faith. Andrew was one of several thousand Christians who were executed during this time. In 1846, at the age of 25, he was tortured and beheaded near Seoul on the Han River. His last words were:
This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively: if I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and for my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death, because God has eternal chastisements in store for those who have refused to know Him.
On 6 May 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Andrew Kim along with 102 other Korean Martyrs, including Paul Chong Hasang, during his trip to Korea. Let us ask these brave pioneers in the faith to pray for us, that we in our turn may find the words and the courage to live lives that will inspire others to follow in Jesus' footsteps.
Have a great day.
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