Pope Francis with Asian youth at the birthplace of Andrew Kim at the Shrine of Solmoe in S. Korea, on August 15, 2014.
By Robin Gomes
Aug 22 2021
Pope Francis sent a message to Korean Catholics on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea’s first Catholic priest, on August 21.
Pope Francis on Saturday held out the figure of Korea’s first Catholic priest, St. Andrew Kim Taegon, to Korean Catholics as an exemplary witness of heroic faith and a tireless apostle of evangelization in difficult times, marked by persecution and suffering.
The Pope made the remark in a message to the Korean Catholics living Rome on the occasion of the bicentenary of the birth of St Andrew Kim.
First Korean martyr
Born on August 21, 1821, St. Andrew Kim was martyred for his faith on September 16, 1846. The 25-year-old priest was among the 103 Korean martyrs, including 15 women, whom Pope St. John Paul II declared saints in Seoul on May 6, 1984. Their feast is celebrated on September 20.
The August 21 bicentenary celebration of Andrew Kim’s birth is part of the Jubilee year that the Catholic Church of Korea is observing from November 29, 2020, to November 27, 2021.
The theme of the jubilee – “Are you a Catholic faithful?” – was the question that Andrew Kim had been asked by his interrogators. His firm response, “Yes, I am a Catholic,” led him to his execution under the wave of persecution of Catholics by the Joseon dynasty.
Korean Archbishop Lazarus You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy, celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for Korean Catholics living in Rome.
