A portrait of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon. (Photo: Seoul Archdiocese)
By UCA News Reporter
June 11 2022
A fragment of St. Andrew Kim’s spine was put on sale online for $8,000 in March.
Seoul Archdiocese in South Korea has made a public apology after a relic of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon was put on sale on an e-commerce platform.
The archdiocese’s apology came on June 8, following a debate over the whereabouts of the saint’s remains after a fragment of his spine was put on sale online for 10 million won (US$7,957).
“We would like to apologize to all those who have recently received bad news about the remains of Father Andrew Kim Tae-geon through the media and are concerned,” said the statement from archdiocesan spokesman Father Heo Young-yup.
In 2020, Seoul Archdiocese launched an investigation into all relics of St. Andrew Kim in all parishes as part of the jubilee of the 200th birth anniversary of the saint. Some 85 parishes said they had physical remains of St. Andrew Kim.
It was found that a fragment of the saint’s remains was stolen from a parish in 1983 that the church couldn’t retrieve, the statement said.
The statement said the Catholic Church has a long tradition of venerating the remains of saints and making them objects of devotion, but the Code of Canon Law strictly forbids the sale of any sacred relics and even their transfer without the explicit permission of the diocesan bishop, the statement said.
“We plan to reissue the certificates after verification. We believe that this will allow us to more clearly supervise the preservation of remains and prevent the distribution of fake remains”
An advertisement posted on March 26 to sell a relic of St. Andrew Kim not only shocked Catholics but also society, the archdiocese said.
The archdiocese cited a 1996 church report that showed as part of the canonization process of the saint, many of his relics were distributed in 1983 and the Liturgy Museum of the Catholic University of Korea had maintained a log of the distribution of relics from 1969-96.
However, the data about the possession of the relics is incomplete due to a lack of information about some custodians.
“It is also true that there are incomplete parts due to the lack of detailed personal information. Also, it is difficult to gather testimonies because most of the custodians from that time are no more,” the statement read.
The archdiocese has asked all those who have remains of saints without a bishop’s certificate to report them to the archdiocese by September for verification. The archdiocese plans to issue a certificate of authenticity once the relics are verified.
“We plan to reissue the certificates after verification. We believe that this will allow us to more clearly supervise the preservation of remains and prevent the distribution of fake remains,” the statement read.
Born in a family of Christian converts in 1821, Andrew Kim was baptized at the age of 15. He studied in a seminary in Macau and was ordained in 1845 as the first Korean Catholic priest. He was arrested and persecuted for his efforts in evangelization during the rule of the staunchly Buddhist Joseon dynasty. He was executed in 1846 at the age of 25.
Pope John Paul II canonized 103 martyrs including Andrew Kim during his visit to South Korea in 1984. – UCA News
