There is an Italian book from 1984 titled I padri della Chiesa coreana (The Fathers of the Korean Church), which documents the rise and development of Catholicism in Korea from both a historical and a spiritual perspective.

What the text brings out above all is the decisive part played by Korean laypeople, who sought out and spread the faith on their own, before any foreign missionary arrived.

Through accounts of religious persecution, sacred hymns and testimonies of faith, the book pays homage to the 103 Korean martyrs canonized by Pope John Paul II. The volume also gathers original writings of key figures such as Yi Pyok and Augustine Chong, illustrating the resilience of a community that survived centuries of hostility.

In short, these sources offer a detailed record of heroic sacrifice and of the development of a Christian identity unique within the Asian context.

According to the sources, the dialogues among the first scholars who came into contact with the faith in Korea — such as Yu Chin-gil (Augustine) and Chong Ha-sang (Paul) — were marked by a profound intellectual search, a dissatisfaction with the traditional philosophies, and astonishment at concepts that were revolutionary for their time.

Those first exchanges most likely reflected an existential crisis in the face of Neo-Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Yu Chin-gil, for example, asked about the origin of the universe, wondering whether it lay in the Li (fundamental principle) of the Neo-Confucians, the Kong (emptiness) of Buddhism, or the Mu (nothingness) of Taoism.

"Is it possible that the truth is not to be found in emptiness, but in a Spirit of Life and a Lord who dwells in Heaven?"

After discovering fragments of the book Cheon-ju-sil-ui ("The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven", by the Italian Matteo Ricci), their conversation shifted to human nature.

"The true nature of human beings is not to grow and grow fat, but to polish the soul until it shines."

They discussed how, while the body decomposes, the soul is immortal and subject to God's final judgment — an idea Yu Chin-gil found both marvellous and true.

A bridge called Cheon-ju-sil-ui

This foundational work of the Jesuit Matteo Ricci was written at the end of the sixteenth century to introduce Christianity into China. Ricci adopted the dress and the language of Confucian scholars, using concepts from classical Chinese philosophy to argue for the existence of a single Creator God. Through a "pre-evangelical" dialogue, he sought to harmonize the Catholic faith with traditional Chinese ethics, distancing himself from Buddhism and Taoism in order to present the Lord of Heaven as the fulfilment of ancient local beliefs. The book provoked intellectual reactions, both of support and of opposition, within imperial society. Ricci's genius established the first great cultural and theological bridge between the West and the Chinese world.

Words that sounded like thunder

One of the strongest cultural shocks in their dialogues must have been the break with the caste system of the Joseon dynasty. In their discussions with priests in Beijing, the Korean envoys were astonished to learn that China was not the centre of the world, and that human beings had not been created as nobles or commoners.

"All human beings are equal before God, and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ."

Concepts such as equality, universal love and freedom resounded in their ears like "the roar of thunder".

A thirst for priests

Since the Korean Church was born of the independent study of laypeople, their conversations were full of a "thirst" for priests. They understood that, although they prayed, there were sacraments — Confession, the Eucharist — that only a priest could administer.

"Our Church is in a pitiful state; we have gone years without a shepherd. We must risk our lives to bring the 'Doctors of the West' here."

Their discussions included technical and dangerous logistics: how to cross the border disguised as servants, how to make contact with ships at Macao, and how to keep the authorities from discovering their letters to the Pope — which they signed with pseudonyms such as "Ambrose" to protect themselves.

In the end, their conversations took on a tone of heroic acceptance. They knew that to follow this "foreign doctrine" was considered treason against the king.

"How can a death sentence be compared with going to hell? It is better to die bearing witness to the Master who created us."

These men went from being curious scholars to active apostles, convinced that their mission was to "open the eyes of the nation" to a truth that transcended its borders.

Confucianism had a decisive influence on the persecution of Christians in Korea, since Christianity was perceived as a direct threat to the social and moral order established by that philosophy. The tension centred mainly on the following points.

1. The conflict over ancestor veneration

The most critical point of rupture was the prohibition of ancestor rites decreed by the Church. For the Confucian society of the time, this rite was the highest expression of filial piety, which was the foundation of the whole social structure and of loyalty to the State.

The Church forbade these rites, considering them superstitious. Christians, regarding them as superstitions contrary to the worship of the "Lord of Heaven", went so far as to destroy the wooden tablets that represented their ancestors. Confucian magistrates and scholars interpreted this act not as a religious matter but as inhuman and brutal behaviour, accusing Christians of "destroying the natural relations of humanity".

2. The accusation of being "without father and without king"

From the Confucian perspective, the social hierarchy was sacred. Christianity was accused of being a doctrine that denied these hierarchies.

• Disloyalty to the king — by placing God's commandments above royal orders, Christians were labelled rebels or traitors. Christianity was said to be "a doctrine without a king".
• Abandonment of the family — by refusing the traditional funeral rites and the obligatory mourning, they were accused of being ungrateful children who "abandoned the veneration of their parents", which led to their being called "without father and without king".

3. The reaction of the literary elite and the State

The Church in Korea was born within a circle of Confucian scholars who sought to renew their own philosophy. At first they studied Christian texts from a scholarly and critical point of view, comparing them with Confucianism and Buddhism. Over time, many Confucian scholars proposed public debates to denounce Christianity as a "false doctrine" corrupting traditional customs.

The persecution was driven by the ruling class and by the intellectuals, who saw in Christianity a "false doctrine" that corrupted minds and customs.

Legal persecution — in official interrogations, such as that of Yun Chich'ung in 1791, the magistrates used the Confucian classics to exhort Christians to change their conduct, arguing that even animals show gratitude to those who gave them life, and that human beings ought to do so through ritual sacrifices.

The basis of the sentence — the governor who presided over the trial of 1791 declared that, according to the laws of the kingdom (founded on Confucian principles), anyone who destroyed the ancestral tablets or failed to render the honours due to their forebears deserved severe punishment, for they had acted like a brute.

In sum, Confucianism provided the ethical and legal framework that justified the repression, seeing in Christianity a subversive ideology that undermined filial piety and political loyalty — the two fundamental pillars of the Korean nation of that time. The sources describe Confucianism as the dominant ethical, social and political system in the Korea of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the frame of reference against which Christianity was measured and, finally, persecuted.

The strength of the Korean Christian community lay in its radical way of life and in the singularity of its origin.

The truly distinctive mark of this community was that it was born and sustained almost entirely by laypeople. For the first ten years, and then for another fifty-eight, the community survived without the assistance of priests; the laity themselves took on the responsibility of preserving, spreading and forming the Church in the midst of persecution.

One of the most remarkable features of this community was its authentic fraternity, which broke down the age-old distinctions of social class. In a society as rigidly hierarchical as Korea's at that time, to see nobles and commoners treating one another as equals was a cause of wonder — and even of scandal — for those looking on from outside.

The community practised mutual aid and charity, going so far as to put their goods in common in order to establish networks of relief for those most in need. This was especially visible when the families of those imprisoned or martyred were supported by the rest of their brothers and sisters in the faith.

They remained faithful to the celebration of the Word of God, even under the constant danger of arrest. They gathered in mountain hiding places to pray, to keep the Lord's Day and to spread the Gospel by copying the Scriptures by hand.

The community assimilated the values, the sentiments and the vocabulary of the Korean ethical and cultural heritage, adapting them to the Christian kerygma so that it might be accessible to ordinary people. They sought to show that Christian faith did not destroy Confucian filial piety, but perfected it, by directing it towards God as the "Supreme Father".

The Shrine of Jinmokjeong, set among the mountains of Gyeongju, is a historic site of great importance for Korean Catholicism, having served as a refuge during the persecutions of the nineteenth century.

The sources describe this place as the home of the Blessed Heo In-baek (James), Kim Jong-ryun (Luke) and Yi Yang-deung (Peter), who hid in a cave known as Beomgul (the Tiger Cave) before their martyrdom in 1868.

The present complex includes an octagonal commemorative church, a symbolic cemetery and the historic Jinmok pavilion, keeping alive the memory of those who practised their faith in hiding. Besides its spiritual value, the shrine stands out for its serene natural setting and for the preservation of a traditional Korean prayer house more than a century old. This "community hall" remains practically intact.

The three martyrs

Heo In-baek (James), Kim Jong-ryun (Luke) and Yi Yang-deung (Peter) were captured during the Great Persecution of 1866. In that period, local officials had orders to arrest and execute Catholics summarily.

Despite hiding in the remote Beomgul cave, the martyrs and their families lived there for almost two years. To survive, they went down to the nearby villages to ask for food and to sell straw shoes that they made themselves. This necessary contact with the outside world may well have revealed their whereabouts to the authorities.

In the end they were located and arrested by the soldiers (pojol) of the Gyeongju garrison. After their capture they spent some two months in the prison of Gyeongju, where they were interrogated and tortured, before being transferred to Ulsan for their execution.

More about Jinmokjeong Shrine and Sannae Church · More about the Gyeongju Government Office site and Seonggeon Church

The Church in Korea had a truly providential beginning: a great love for the priests who came "from outside", together with a deep esteem for the local clergy — the first native Korean priest, Andrew Kim, was martyred at only twenty-five. There was a profound love for Rome and for the Pope; and a very strong sense of community, shown in the community halls, in the frequent listening to the Word and in the reception of the sacraments, as well as in mutual support. All of these are elements we can easily recognize in our own communities today.

Secularization, a phenomenon of global reach, has eroded a great part of this heritage. To move away from the "very first apostolic model" — as Saint John Paul II would put it — causes the Church, wherever she may be, to lose her vitality, her missionary impulse and her readiness to give her life for the Gospel if need be.

Today more than ever we need to evangelize in Asia; the Korean martyrs encourage us, and show us how faith is able to break through all the "social" layers that obstruct access to the truth — as secularization does in our own day.