SEOUL (UCAN): The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea has moved to pursue the canonisation of 81 Catholics including priests, religious and laypeople who were martyred by communist forces during the Korean War. The Special Episcopal Commission to Promote Beatification and Canonization held its closing session for preliminary examination of 81 Servants of God in Seoul on June 7
The bishops agreed that the candidates were “witnesses of modern and contemporary faith” of the Korean Church.
Sainthood candidates include Bishop Francis Hong Yong-ho of Pyongyang, 49 priests, seven religious and 23 laypeople who were tortured and killed by the communists before and after the Korean War [1950 to 1953].
The martyrs included foreign missionaries like Bishop Patrick James Byrne [1888-1950] of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, who was the apostolic delegate to Korea.
The bisops conference said that the preliminary examination of data and research materials began on 22 February 2017, and 25 sessions were held until May 13 this year. The committee has preserved all data and documents, translated into English, to be submitted to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Witnesses and experts who attended the concluding session included Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul, Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon of Uijeongbu and Bishop Mathias Ri long-hoon, chairperson of the bishops’ conference.
Bishop Hong, the first bishop of Pyongyang, was imprisoned in 1949 and later disappeared. He was then 43-years-old
During their spring meeting in 2008, Korean bishops agreed to advance the cause of canonisation for 81 candidates who testified their faith amid brutal persecution.
The bishops in their respective dioceses carried out research and collected data and documents on the candidates as the martyrs hailed from dioceses including Seoul, Gwangju, Jeju, Suwon, Incheon, Chuncheon and Pyongyang. More than half the martyrs [46] were from Seoul.
In 2013, Korea’s bishops entrusted the Archdiocese of Seoul with the jurisdiction for preliminary investigation. In 2014, the martyrs were declared Servants of God, marking the official beginning of diocesan and national phases of the canonisation process.
The progress comes months after the state-run Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report that found more than 1,100 Christians, including Bishop Hong, were killed for their faith by North Korean forces during the Korean War. The commission said the massacres could have stemmed from the north’s policy of defining Christianity as “an impure force” that warranted oppression.
Bishop Hong, the first bishop of Pyongyang, was imprisoned in 1949 and later disappeared. He was then 43-years-old.
Until 2013, the Vatican’s official yearbook mentioned Bishop Hong as the missing head of the Church in Pyongyang.
In 2014, when the Vatican accepted the bishop as a Servant of God, he became the first candidate for sainthood from North Korea.
Bishop Hong was born in 1906 and ordained a priest in 1933 when Korea was under Japanese occupation. He was ordained a bishop in 1944 to lead the Apostolic Vicariate of Pyongyang.
