Formation of the Songgol Catholic Village

Before the Gihae Persecution of 1839, several Catholic villages had already formed near Seoul, and Songgol appears to have emerged around this time. By the period before the Byung-in Persecution, the Songgol community was already stable and well-established.

After the establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of Joseon in 1831 and the arrival of missionaries from the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Catholic communities began to develop around Seoul. Because most pastoral work was centered in the capital, believers needed to live close to the priests in order to participate in the sacraments and attend Mass easily.

(Address of Songgol Shrine: 67Dongcheon-ro 437beon-gil, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province)

Size of the Songgol Community during the Persecution Period

According to a letter written by Father Doré, who was arrested at Songgol and later martyred at Saenamteo during the Byung-in Persecution, Songgol was inhabited solely by Catholics at the time. The community consisted of twelve households.

In1900, when a parish was established at Hauhyeon, Songgol was incorporated as one of its mission stations, with 47registered Catholics. It is likely that between 45 and 50 believers lived there during the persecution period, maintaining the life of faith together.

Father Doré also wrote that the Catholics of Songgol made their living primarily through tobacco farming, living in great poverty after their small rice fields were ruined by flooding.

The Importance of the Songgol Catholic Village

When foreign missionaries entered Joseon during times of persecution, they needed a safe place where they could adapt to the new environment. Before they could begin pastoral ministry, they had to learn the Korean language and customs. A Catholic village where believers lived together provided an ideal place for them to stay safely and prepare for ministry.

For such a village to be selected, the faith of its residents had to be strong, reliable, and faithful. In this respect, Songgol earned the deep trust of the missionaries.

Between1857 and 1866, five missionaries stayed at Songgol, receiving the help of the local faithful as they adapted to life in Korea. Missionaries working in other regions often returned to Songgol during the busy summer farming season to rest and make retreats, a sign of the community’s strong and trustworthy faith.

Songgol and the Missionaries

A letter dated September 18, 1853, written by Father Daveluy, lists Songgol as the place of origin. He also gathered seminarians there and taught them Latin.

Songgol became a formal training site for missionaries beginning in 1857.In 1854, when Bishop Berneux, the fourth Apostolic Vicar of Joseon, welcomed Father Perron, he sent him to Songgol upon his arrival in March 1857. Father Perron thus became the first missionary to study Korean language and culture while residing in Songgol.

During Perron’s stay in 1857, Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop visited him in Songgol, and they spent time together before Choe departed again for mission work.

In1861, Bishop Berneux assigned two newly arrived missionaries—FatherJoanneau and Father Calais—to Songgol.

Father Ometre, who entered Korea on June 23, 1863, also stayed in Songgol from that year until late October 1864.

The last missionary to come to Songgol was Father Doré. While diligently studying Korean language and customs there, he was arrested at the outbreak of the Byung-in Persecution in 1866 and martyred at Saenamteo on March 7.

Songgol as a Center for Pastoral Ministry

From Songgol, missionaries cared for near by communities until they were reassigned to other regions. After ministering around Songgol, some priests moved on to Mirinae, where they continued their pastoral work, visiting believers from village to village as they carried out mission and evangelization.

Lifeof the Missionaries in Songgol

The missionaries who came to Songgol stayed in the home of Yi Gun-ok Joseph (이군옥 요셉) and his family. Fathers Perron, Joanneau, Calais, Ometre, and Doréall lived in that same house at different times. Yi Gun-ok was not merely a host; he served as a teacher of the Korean language, instructing the missionaries in speech and custom. Father Doré later wrote that he himself learned Korean from Yi Gun-ok and that Yi was an exceptionally courageous man. Highly trusted by both missionaries and the local faithful, Yi Gun-ok continued to care for each missionary who stayed in Songgol. For the missionaries, their modest room became their chapel. They built a simple wooden altar against the mud wall, and there they gathered with the faithful to celebrate Mass every day. The missionaries visited other communities and received visitors as well. They prayed, sang hymns together, shared joyful moments, and at times kept silence and fasted while making retreats.

Martyrs of the Songgol Catholic Village

Several martyrs are closely connected with Songgol. The first are Father Doré and Father Ometre, both of whom stayed in Songgol to learn Korean before being arrested during the Byung-in Persecution.

• Father Doré was arrested on February 27, 1866, and martyred at Saenamteo on March 7.
• Father Ometre was arrested on March 11, 1866, and martyred at Galmaemot in Boryeongon March 30.

Both priests are included among the 103 Korean Martyr Saints. Among the local faithful who received guidance from the missionaries in Songgol, a family of three—the grandfather John, the son Peter, and the grandson Francis—were all martyred together at Jwa po-cheong on March 19,1871 (lunar calendar).

Songgol Becomes a Pilgrimage Site

Interestingly, Songgol became a pilgrimage site not through Korean initiative, but through the devotion of Father Doré’s home parish in France.

Father Doré came from the parish of Saint-Hilaire-de-Talmont in France.

Father Joseph Grelet, who served as pastor there from 1956 to 1966, submitted a petition for beatification to the Vatican on the 100th anniversary of the martyrs of the Byung-in Persecution. He visited Korea, made a pilgrimage to Songgol, and formed a spiritual link between Songgol and Doré’s hometown of Talmont.

Upon returning to France, Father Grelet wrote the book “Korea, Land of the Martyrs” in 1964. He also crafted two small crosses inspired by a millstone once used by Father Doré’s father—one was installed in Talmont, and the other in Songgol as part of a memorial. This marked the beginning of Songgol’s tradition as a pilgrimage destination. In October 2016, Bishop Castet of the Diocese of Luçon, Doré’s home diocese, visited Songgol as a pilgrim.

Relics in the Songgol Martyrs’ Room

The Martyrs’ Room at Songgol houses relics of four canonized saints as well as relics of an unknown Songgol martyr:

• Bishop Antoine Daveluy
• Father Ometre
• Father Doré
• St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon
• Relic of an unnamed Songgol martyr

Grave of the Songgol Unknown Martyrs

During the Byung-in Persecution, four Catholics who had taken refuge in Songgol were arrested and executed near a stream in Sinbong-dong.

At that time, the authorities often issued the command “Seonchamhuge”(先斬後啓),meaning “behead first, report later,” which made such immediate executions common. Their bodies were discarded by the roadside. Local believers dug a grave on a small hill by the stream and covered it with stones, forming what became known as the Stone Tomb of the Unknown Martyrs.The old name for this area was Seobong (서봉),and the names and stories of the martyrs remain unknown. The site was long remembered as the “Stone Grave of the Unknown Martyrs of Seobong Village.” In1914, Seori (신리) and Seobong-ri (서봉리) were mergedin to Sinbong-ri, which late rbecame part of what is now Sinbong-dong in Yongin. Songgol’s four unnamed martyrs were interred together in a single underground stone chamber.

Figures of Maje, the Cradle of Faith

Maje is the birthplace of the four Jeong brothers—Jeong Yak-hyeon, Jeong Yak-jeon, Jeong Yak-jong, and Jeong Yak-yong—and is regarded as a cradle of the Korean Catholic Church and a model of a holy family. On May 27, 2017, Bishop Lee Ki-heon of the Diocese of Uijeongbu proclaimed Maje as a Holy Family Shrine.

Jeong Yak-jong Augustine was beatified by Pope Francis on August 16, 2014,at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, and Jeong Ha-sang Paul was canonized at the same ceremony.

The Jeong family had deep ties with the founders of early Korean Catholicism:

1. Jeong Yak-hyeon’s wife was the sister of Yi Byeok, a founding pioneer.
2. Jeong Yak-yong’s sister was married to Yi Seung-hun, the first baptized Korean.
3. Jeong Yak-hyeon’s son-in-law was Hwang Sa-yeong, the author of the Baekseo (Silk Letter).

Jeong Yak-yong John, an Early Scholar from Maje

Jeong Yak-yong received baptism in 1784 at Yi Byeok’s home near Supyogyo and was brother-in-law to Yi Seung-hun. Exiled during the Shin-yu Persecution, he devoted himself to scholarship in exile and became a leading figure of the Silhak movement.

After returning from exile in 1818, he deeply repented of his earlier apostasy, frequently kept fasts of reparation, and lived a life of self-discipline, cutting himself off from outside contact and dedicating himself to prayer and contemplation.

He authored the History of the Transmission of the Gospel in Joseon and received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick from Father Yu Bang-je before his death in 1836.