History book pits 2 Korean Catholic martyrs against each other

"Martyr of Blood, Martyr of Sweat: The Letters of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon and Venerable Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop" by Brothers Anthony and Han-Yol / Courtesy of Arx Publishing

The Korean Peninsula's Catholic history is surprisingly fascinating, even if you're a nonbeliever — like I am.

Its history traces back to the 1700s, midway through the 1390-1910 Joseon Dynasty, an isolationist state. Rather than arriving via foreign missionaries, Catholicism was brought to the country by Koreans who discovered it while abroad in China. As it spread throughout Korea, the government tried to stop its expansion, leading to persecution resulting in somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 deaths. This horrific history also led to an unusually high number of saints, with 103 martyred Korean Catholics officially canonized by the Church in 1984.

A new book by Brothers Anthony and Han-Yol of the French ecumenical community of Taize analyzes the lives of two early Korean Catholic figures: Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon and Ven. Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop. Titled "Martyr of Blood, Martyr of Sweat," the book presents annotated letters by the two figures, both born in 1821. Most of the correspondence is being published in English translation for the first time, with the letters previously available primarily in the original Latin, along with French and Korean translations.

Careful readers will note that only one of the two titular figures is a saint — Andrew, the "Martyr of Blood," who was the very first Korean Catholic to be martyred, shortly after returning to Korea. He was beheaded in 1846 at age 25.

Thomas, the "Martyr of Sweat," avoided being executed for his faith. Instead, he spent over a decade trekking across the Korean Peninsula, conducting pastoral activities in areas that French missionaries struggled to reach, ultimately working himself to death at age 40 in 1861.

The book gives readers a good opportunity to read about Andrew and Thomas' adventures abroad. It also invites readers, however subtly, to contrast their personalities and choices.

It's clear that Andrew's writing is a little more frivolous, more focused on his adventures. In a lecture for the Royal Asiatic Society Korea, Brother Anthony once compared Andrew's writings to "a blog written by an adventurous young man fresh out of school." He's prone to exaggeration, a bit of a risk-taker and tends to blame others when things don't work out. Ultimately, he was arrested after being caught for claiming to be of yangban (aristocratic) status. In his final letter, he does a bit of grandstanding before concluding, "I have much more to say but this place does not allow me to write more."

Thomas, by contrast, writes more analytically, detailing the lives of the people he meets and revealing the pain of persecuted Christians.

Readers might find it a bit unfair that Thomas' reward for being the careful one and evading capture was extra years of toil and suffering, whereas Andrew gets the eternal glory of sainthood. It almost feels like the book has an underlying purpose.

Brother Anthony has emphasized frequently that he doesn't mean to be disrespectful of Andrew. He also says there is no point in stating the case for the sainthood of Thomas, whose own father was canonized as a saint in 1984 and whose mother was beatified in 2014.

Thomas' potential beatification has been under examination in the Vatican since 2004, when he was granted the title "Servant of God." He was further proclaimed to be "Venerable" by Pope Francis in 2016, but it will still take a miracle for him to attain sainthood.

That miracle may be within reach, after a Vatican medical advisory panel on March 26 recognized a healing that Thomas performed as miraculous. This clears the first of three major hurdles needed before he can be declared “Blessed,” which is the step before sainthood.

At the end of the day, this is a historical text, one that is both enlightening and entertaining and worth the read regardless of religious or spiritual background, or whether Thomas ends up getting sainted.

Brother Anthony, a British-born naturalized Korean citizen also known as An Son-jae / Korea Times file

Brother Anthony, meanwhile, at 84 years young, shows no signs of being worn down himself, as he continues to write, translate and publish books about history, poetry and fiction.

"Martyr of Blood, Martyr of Sweat: The Letters of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon and Venerable Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop" is available on Amazon and Yes24.