St Andrew Kim Tae-gon

First Korean Catholic Priest, Martyr (1821-1846)
Feast / Memorial: September 20
Patronage: Korean Clergy
Also known as Andreas Kim Tae-gon, 김대건 안드레아, 金大建 
Andrew Kim Tae-gon was born on 21 August 1821, in Chungchong Province, Korea. His parents, being converts to Catholicism, were subject to persecution, to avoid which they moved to Kyonggi Province. At 15 years old, Kim Tae-gon was chosen by a visiting priest to be a seminarian and was sent with two other seminarians to Macao. He arrived in 1873 and began his studies with the missionaries of the Far Eastern Procure of the Parish Foreign Mission Society.

In 1842 Kim Tae-gon left Macao as an interpreter for a French admiral aboard a warship. When the admiral returned to France, Kim Tae-gon tried to return to his homeland through the strictly guarded northern frontier, but he failed. He was ordained a deacon in China in 1844 and managed to return to Korea the next year, arriving in Seoul early in 1845. He then led the French missionaries by sea to Shanghai, where Bishop Ferreol ordained him the first Korean priest in the Church’s 60-year history in Korea. 

He returned to Korea with Bishop Ferreol, reaching Chungchong Province in October of the same year. In his home town and vicinity, he catechized the faithful, until Bishop Ferreol summoned him to Seoul. At the Bishop's command, he tried to introduce French missionaries from China into Korea, enlisting the aid of Chinese fishermen. For this, Father Kim Tae-gon was arrested and sent to the central prison in Seoul, where he was charged as the ringleader of a heretical sect and traitor to his country. He was sentenced to death and was beheaded on 16 September 1846.

He was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and canonized by Pope John-Paul II on 6 May 1984.


The first striking event in the Christian history of Korea is that no foreign missioners brought the faith to this country; the first people to bring it was Koreans themselves. Some of their learned men as diplomatic envoys, on a journey to Peking in China, heard about Chinese books written by Matteo Ricci, the Jesuit priest, and scientist, who so helped the beginnings of the Church in China. They brought them back to Korea. Intrigued and then convinced by the truths about Christ, coupled with some discontent with the incompleteness of Confucianism as they knew it in Korea, they sent to Peking to learn more about the faith. There in 1784 one Korean noble, Yi Sung-Hun, was baptized as Peter, and then another; they then turned to begin spreading the faith among their fellow Korean people. The results were incredible. Without a priest, with only a few Chinese books available to a few persons, without the sacraments, after ten years there were 4,000 Korean Christians, with martyrs and heroic practice of Christian virtues that astounded the other Koreans.

As could be expected, their knowledge of the faith was rudimentary. To set up the Church as they had seen it in Peking, they even named one bishop, several other priests, and supplied the people with what they knew to be necessary. This was done in completely good faith and continued for a few years. Only when they themselves began to doubt and consulted the bishop in Peking, did they realize their mistake?

They, therefore, requested a priest to come. But Peking had none to send; further, it was forbidden for any foreigner to enter Korea. Yet, when persecutions broke out against them, these Catholics, with such little instruction and with no help from the sacraments, remained steadfast in their love for Christ; some even gave their lives as martyrs, protesting that this was the true doctrine of heaven.

Repeated requests to Peking finally won for them a courageous Chinese priest, James Chou Wen-mo, the first priest to enter Korea. He celebrated the first Mass on Korean soil, Easter Sunday, 1795. For six more years, he worked among the Catholics in great secrecy, constantly fleeing from police and soldiers. He was finally apprehended and beheaded.

After about 30 years without another priest, a pleading letter, smuggled out of Korea and addressed to the Holy Father, reached Pope Leo XII in 1827. The letter begged him to send priests and a bishop. He wanted to act quickly for such noble people but died before he could accomplish anything. A successor, Pope Gregory XVI, was able to find a bishop to go, but he died before he could get to the Korean border. Another bishop was then obtained from the Paris Foreign Mission Society together with two priests; after many difficulties they succeeded in secretly crossing the border of Korea from China, dressed as funeral mourners in long garments.

All together there four great persecutions in the history of the Korean Church: 1801, 1839, 1846, 1866. The cruelty these martyrs endured is terrifying; imprisonment, stretching of bones and muscles, clubbing, torture of all kinds, beheading, strangling, all were employed at various times to make the martyrs change their minds. Although some did, many others continue loyally in the faith until they won the palm of martyrdom.

Finally, in 1886 Korea began to establish diplomatic relations with various countries of the world. Forgetting its former isolation, it began to admit ambassadors from European countries and to guarantee the safety of foreigners living in the country. Missioners could then return, and gradually Koreans could live freely as Christians.