Every September 20, the Church celebrates Saint Andrew Kim, the first Korean Catholic priest, martyred for his faith in 1846.
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Saint Andrew Kim Taegon was born in Solmoe (now South Korea) in 1821, into a yangban family; that is, belonging to the nobility and, therefore, part of the country’s ruling class.
As a child, Andrés was a victim of intolerance. Together with his parents, he had to move to Kolbaemasil (Gyeonggi province), in an attempt to flee the persecution that the country’s great lords had organized against Christians, national and foreign. Korean society was largely Confucian, and markedly hostile to all types of foreign influence, especially that exerted by the Catholic Church.
Heir of a martyr
Andrew’s father, St. Ignatius Kim, was a convert to Catholicism who made his family and home a “little church.” In this, other Christians were able to find support and spiritual refuge. Saint Ignatius Kim would die a martyr in 1839, a victim of hatred against Catholics.
Andrew received baptism before his father’s death, at 15 years of age. Years later, thanks to a group of French missionaries, he would be sent to the seminary in Macau, a Portuguese colony (today part of China) to train for the priesthood.
In 1845 Andrés moved to Shanghai, in mainland China, where he was ordained by Bishop Jean Joseph Ferréol, of French origin, becoming the first priest originally from Korea.
Missionary in his own land
As a priest he returned to Korea in order to facilitate the entry of more missionaries to his country, where all forms of foreign immigration had been prohibited. Despite the threats, Father Kim dedicated himself to proclaiming Christ, preaching and baptizing converts, many of them touched by his testimony of charity.
Kim was arrested while trying to bring a group of French missionaries from China into the Korean Peninsula. After spending several months in prison, he was sentenced to death and finally executed in 1846. The saint died beheaded along with other martyrs.
According to the words collected in the book Building Bridges: Is There Hope for North Korea? from Alton, David and Chidley, Rob (2013), Kim managed to say before dying:
“It is for him that I die. My immortal life is at its beginning. Convert to Christianity if you want happiness…”
Andrew Kim, model for Christians in Asia
Saint Andrew was only 25 years old when the death penalty was applied to him. He was canonized by Pope Saint John Paul II on May 6, 1984 along with 102 other martyrs of Korea, among whom was also Saint Paul Chong Hasang (1795-1839). The canonization ceremony took place during the Polish Pope’s visit to South Korea.
Saint Andrew, together with the large group of Korean martyrs, constitute today not only models of virtue and holiness, they are also symbols of unity between the two Koreas (once a single nation), the one in the north, whose Church suffers from the impositions of state control. , and that of the south, which is working to expand and strengthen itself.
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