On Saturday July 5 marks the centenary of the Eucharistic liturgy celebrated on July 5, 1925, in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, during which the first Korean martyrs were proclaimed blessed. We are talking about 79 Catholics who suffered martyrdom, ‘in odium fidei’, in the name of their faith during the infamous persecutions of Gihae (1839) and Byeong-o (1846). Among them was the first Korean Catholic priest, Andrew Kim Taegon, who completed his academic training in Macau and later managed to enter Korea as a missionary. However, thirteen months after his ordination, he was put to the sword in 1846, at the age of 26. He is now recognized as the patron saint of the Korean clergy.
