According to some historians, the seed of Christianity was sown in Korea during the Japanese invasion of that peninsula in 1592 when some Christian soldiers instructed and baptized a couple of Koreans. The new converts treasured their faith and stealthily made inroads into Confucianism, the state religion. Since Korea insulated itself from the rest of the world and banned any form of conversion, evangelization was impossibility. About the year 1777, a considerable amount of Christian literature was secretly smuggled into Korea from China. It was warmly welcomed by the existing Christians and the educated classes. By the time a Chinese priest set foot in Korea for the first time in 1794, he was surprised to find about four thousand Catholics who had stuck to their faith without having ever seen a priest and consequently without having had the consolation of any Sacrament. By the year 1836, several religious missionaries entered Korea via China and proseltization was in full swing. The number of “At home Churches” and “Closet Christians” began to increase in number. Gradually, the government authorities got wind of the progress of Christianity and consequently there broke out a series of violent persecutions from 1839 to 1867. The most outstanding martyrs of this period were: 1) Andrew Kim Taegon. He was the first native Korean priest and he helped missionaries to enter his country through the sea route. 2) Paul Chong Hasang. He was a lay missionary with wife and children. 3) Columba Kim. She was an unmarried woman who was treated with indignity and thrown into a cell with condemned prisoners. During his pilgrimage to Korea in 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized 103 of the martyrs among whom there were 3 Bishops, 8 priests, 45 men and 47 women.
Reflection: The Korean laity has the unique honour of having preserved their faith for decades without the benefit of priests and without the support of Mass and Sacraments. The magnetic pull of Christ is such that any sincere person who comes under his influence will live and die for Him.
We have ….the honour of being called Christians. Yet what good will this do us if we are Christians only in name and not in fact? (St. Andrew Kim.)
