Catholicism in Korea

By Choe Chong-dae

During a recent trip to Macao, a former Portuguese colony in China, I was fortunate enough to retrace the footsteps of Luis de Camoes (1524-1580), the great Portuguese poet, and Kim Dae-geon, the first Korean Catholic priest in Camoes Garden.

Camoes Garden was named after Luis de Camoes and is located across the street from St. Anthony’s Church.

The park’s most famous spot is the grotto in which the great poet composed the famous epic poem, “Os Lusíadas” (Soul of Portugal), when he lived in Macau.

A bronze bust was erected in the 19th century at the entrance of the grotto to commemorate Camoes and his famous poem.

In the same garden stands a statue of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon (1821–1846). Kim was educated in Macao and died a martyr. It was in Macao that Kim and other early Korean Catholic priests such as Choe Yang-eup studied Christian theology and immersed themselves in Western civilization.

After returning to Korea, they played a significant role in transmitting Catholicism to Korea together with priests of the Paris Foreign Mission Society. Kim’s statue in Camoes Garden has remained a symbol of friendship between Korea and Portugal, and ultimately between Eastern and Western countries.

With Kim who was executed at the early age of 25 in 1846, the history of Korean Catholicism has been one of continuous hardship and persecution. It started when the newly converted Koreans were sacrificed as martyrs owing to their belief. The persecution of Catholics by the Joseon Kingdom was mainly due to the fact that the Catholic religion’s refused to worship ancestors, something that fundamentally opposes Confucian ethics.

It is worthy of note that, contrary to other nations, the initial seeds of the Catholic faith were brought to Korea and developed by Koreans themselves after they had studied Catholic texts which had been translated into Chinese before the arrival of foreign missionaries. In most countries, Christianity and other religions were introduced by foreign missionaries, but in Korea, the Koreans were the ones who searched out Catholicism and developed it on their own accord.

The Catholic religious texts were brought to Korea by members of the annual delegation of the court of the Chinese emperor in Beijing. These books aroused much interest from Korean intellectuals who were ardently pursuing the study of true religion.

As a result, some promising young scholars, including Yi Byeok stayed in Cheon Jin-am, a hermitage from 1770 to 1784 in order to study Catholic faith. Subsequently, Lee Byeok taught Catholicism to his young disciples by practicing the religion, finally sending one of his associates, Lee Seung-hun, to Beijing to be baptized.

Lee returned home in 1784 with valuable religious texts and baptized many of his colleagues who had already studied Catholicism in Korea. They established a place of worship in Myeongrye-bang, the site of Myeongdong Cathedral today, and thus Catholicism was accepted for the first time in Korea. The place promoted the Catholic faith and its development in Korea.

Despite the century-long persecution, Korean Catholicism is deeply rooted, with an increasing number of believers. The prodigious growth of Korean Catholicism today is indebted to the thousands of martyrs who shed their blood for it.

It is evident that they have contributed greatly to the modernization of Korean society by introducing important aspects of Western culture, science, education and democracy.

It was a proud moment in the history of Korean Catholicism when His Holiness Pope John II personally presided over the canonization of 103 martyrs, including Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon during his first visit to Korea in 1984.

I hope that the new Pope Francis, as a messenger of God, will visit Korea soon to bring a message of peace, not only to the Catholics but also to all the Koreans.

Choe Chong-dae is a guest columnist of The Korea Times and the president of Dae-kwang International Co., as well as a director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com.