Sts. Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang and Companions

Patron Saints of Korea

Christianity came to Korea in the late 16th century. By 1790, there were an estimated 4,000 Catholics in Korea who had never received the Eucharist or seen a priest. St. Andrew Kim Taegon was the first Korean-born priest. He attended a seminary in China and when he returned, he secretly helped Christian missionaries into the country. He was arrested and killed by the anti-Christian government for doing so. Paul Chong Hasang, a lay apostle, as well as several other Korean Catholics were killed for their faith in the latter half of the 19th century. In 1984, Pope St. John Paul II canonized over 100 Koreans and missionaries, including St. Andrew Kim Taegon, who were martyred between 1838 and 1867.