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DAEJON (UCAN): The Memory and Hope Catholic art complex opened on July 20, at Solmoe Holy Land in Chungnam, the Diocese of Daejeon, South Korea—the birthplace of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, the first native Korean priest and patron saint of clergy in the country.
The event was the latest in a series of programmes and activities by the Church in Korea to mark the saint’s 200th birth anniversary.
The programme was also a thanksgiving ceremony for Archbishop Lazarus You Heung-sik of Daejeon, who was appointed prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy in June.
Solmoe Holy Land, a popular pilgrimage site, was visited by Pope Francis during his trip to South Korea for Asian Youth Day in 2014.
The complex was built on 22,365 square metres of land at the cost of around 13 billion won ($87.9 million), the Catholic Times reported.
It consists of a 400-seat memorial church at its centre with an art performance hall and two exhibition rooms. A spacious and open outdoor plaza surrounds the complex, which is suitable for small and large-scale events.
The beautiful roof of the complex comprises 13 large and small rose petals symbolising the blood and sweat of martyrs that results in the blossoming flowers of faith.
It consists of a 400-seat memorial church at its centre with an art performance hall and two exhibition rooms. A spacious and open outdoor plaza surrounds the complex, which is suitable for small and large-scale events.
Father Lee Yong-ho, who is in charge of Solmoe Holy Land, told the Catholic Times, “The present age is an era of culture, so efforts for evangelisation also require a cultural approach.”
The Diocese of Daejeon will host a range of commemorative events at Solmoe Holy Land from August 14 to 22 to mark the bicenterary birth anniversary of St. Andrew Kim.
The saint was born on 21 August 1821 in the Solmoe area to a family of Christian converts and was baptised at the age of 15, according to Franciscan media. Following his conversion, he travelled to a seminary in Macau, and returned after six years to his homeland through Manchuria. The same year, he crossed the Yellow Sea to Shanghai, where he was ordained a priest.
Back in Korea, he pioneered evangelisation by helping foreign missionaries enter the country, taking water routes to evade border patrols. Such acts met with a brutal response from the staunchly Korean rulers of the time who viewed Christianity as an alien, subversive religion.
Andrew Kim was arrested, tortured and beheaded on 16 September 1846, at the Han River near Seoul.
His father, Ignatius Kim, was martyred during the persecution of 1839. Paul Chong Hasang, a married layperson, was also martyred in 1839 at the age of 45.
It is believed Christianity first came to Korea during the Japanese invasion of 1592 when some Koreans were baptised, probably by Christian Japanese soldiers. It then started as an indigenous lay movement.
However, the Church faced massive persecution and hundreds of Christian men and women, including clergy, were martyred for refusing to renounce their faith.
In 1984, during his visit to Korea, Pope St. John Paul II canonised 103 martyrs including Andrew Kim, Ignatius Kim, Paul Chong and seven French missionaries who were martyred in the 19th century.
During his visit in 2014, Pope Francis beatified Korean martyrs, Paul Yun Ji-chung and 123 companions, and praised their “great sacrifices” and their call “to put Christ first.”
South Korea has about 5.6 million Catholics out of an estimated population of 51.8 million.
