The practice of Christianity in Korea is marginal in North Korea, but significant in South Korea, where it revolves around Protestantism and Catholicism, accounting for 8.6 million and 5.8 million members, respectively. Christianity in the form of Catholicism was first introduced during the late Joseon Dynasty period by Confucian scholars who encountered it in China. In 1603, Yi Su-gwang, a Korean politician, returned from Beijing carrying several theological books written by Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit missionary to China. He began disseminating the information in the books, introducing Christianity to Korea. In 1787, King Jeongjo of Joseon officially outlawed Catholicism as an "evil practice," declaring it heretical and strictly banned. Catholicism was reintroduced in 1785 by Yi Seung-hun and French and Chinese Catholic priests were soon invited by the Korean Christians.
The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against Catholics during the 19th century in Korea. Among them are 103 Saints and 124 Blesseds officially recognized by the Catholic Church.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris is a Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands.
Throughout the ages, there have been various popular religious traditions practiced on the Korean peninsula. The oldest indigenous religion of Korea is the Korean folk religion, which has been passed down from prehistory to the present. Buddhism was introduced to Korea from China during the Three Kingdoms era in the fourth century, and the religion became an important part of the culture until the Joseon Dynasty when Confucianism was established as the state philosophy. During the Late Joseon Dynasty, in the 19th century, Christianity began to take root in Korea. While both Christianity and Buddhism would play important roles in the resistance to the Japanese occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century, only about 4% of Koreans were members of a religious organization in 1940.
A territorial abbey is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Catholics and parishes in the territory. Such an abbot is called a territorial abbot or abbot nullius diœceseos. A territorial abbot thus differs from an ordinary abbot, who exercises authority only within the monastery's walls or to monks or canons who have taken their vows there. A territorial abbot is equivalent to a diocesan bishop in Catholic canon law.
The Catholic Church in South Korea is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The Catholic Church in North Korea retains a community of several hundred adherents who practice under the supervision of the state-established Korean Catholic Association (KCA) rather than the Catholic hierarchy. The dioceses of the Church have remained vacant since Christian persecutions in the late 1940s. The most prominent congregation is that of Pyongyang, which meets at Changchung Cathedral. According to a KCA official, two other congregations exist. The state ideology of Juche has largely displaced Catholic faith, and full services are provided only to people with a Catholic family background.
Andrew Kim Taegeon, also referred to as Andrew Kim in English, was the first Korean Catholic priest and is the patron saint of Korean clergy.
Yi Seung-Hun was a Korean Catholic missionary known as one of the first Christians, missionaries and martyrs in Korea.
The Catholic Church in Scotland overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church headed by the Pope. After first arriving in Roman Britain, being reintroduced by both the Hiberno-Scottish mission and Iona Abbey, and firmly established in Scotland for nearly a millennium, the Catholic Church was outlawed by the Scottish Reformation Parliament in 1560. Multiple regime change uprisings in the interim failed to reestablish Catholicism or freedom of religion and, even today, the Papal Jurisdiction Act 1560, while no longer enforced, still remains on the books.
Siméon-François Berneux was a French Catholic missionary to Asia, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who was canonized as a saint. Berneux was executed in the anti-Christian purges at Saenamteo, Seoul, Korea, in 1866. His death provoked the French campaign against Korea the same year, which led to Korea reinforcing its ongoing policy of isolationism.
The Diocese of Hamhung is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in North Korea.
Seohak was the introduction of technology, philosophy and most prominently, Catholicism and Western ideas to Joseon Korea in the 18th century. It is also occasionally referred to as Cheonjuhak which means 'Heavenly Learning'. Literally meaning "Western learning", Seohak's antonym was Donghak, which featured neo-Confucianism and other traditional ways of thought.
Tokwon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien, located near the town of Wonsan in what is now North Korea. Founded as a monastic mission in Seoul, the community transferred to Tokwon in the 1920s to take charge of the newly created Apostolic Vicariate of Wonsan. The persecution of Christians in North Korea since 1949—including the torture and murder of dozens of men and women religious—made any church activity in the abbacy impossible. However the Territorial Abbacy of Tokwon is formally still kept as one of the few remaining territorial abbeys within the Catholic Church.
Yi Byeok was a scholar of Korea’s later Joseon period who, in 1784, played a leading role in the foundation of Korea's first Catholic community. It is reported in one source that his original name was Yi Taek-jo.
The Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria of Grottaferrata is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction which administers the Byzantine Rite Abbey of Saint Mary in Grottaferrata located in Grottaferrata, Rome, Lazio, Italy. The Abbacy and its territory are stauropegic, that is, directly subordinate to a primate or synod, rather than to a local bishop. It is the only remnant of the once-flourishing traditions of Italo-Greek and Italo-Albanian Eastern Christian monasticism. It is also the only monastery of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata,, a religious order of the Italo-Albanian Greek Catholic Church which has played a major role in Albanian history, Albanian literature, and in the Albanian diaspora. The abbot ordinary is also the superior general of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata. Though normally led by an abbot, the Abbacy has been under the authority of Bishop Marcello Semeraro since Pope Francis named him Apostolic Administrator of the Abbacy on 4 November 2013.
Saenamteo (Korean: 새남터) is a location on the north bank of the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. During the Joseon period it was a sandy area outside the city walls. that was used punishment of political prisoners, including Roman Catholic believers, priests, and missionaries among the Korean Martyrs. A memorial church, consecrated in 1987, now stands on the site and houses a Martyrs' Memorial.
The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is an observance within the Christian calendar in which congregations pray for Christians who are persecuted for their faith. It falls on the first Sunday of November, within the liturgical period of Allhallowtide, which is dedicated to remembering the martyrs and saints of Christianity. The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is observed by many Christian denominations, with over 100,000 congregations honoring the holiday worldwide. Congregations focus on "praying for individuals, families, churches, or countries where Christians are facing hard situations." Additionally, many congregations donate funds from their collection of tithes and offerings on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church to NGOs that support human rights of persecuted Christians, such as Voice of the Martyrs, International Christian Concern, and Open Doors.
The Catholic Persecution of 1866, known in Korea as the Byeong-in Persecution, refers to the large-scale persecution of Catholics that took place in Joseon in 1866 under the regency of Heungseon Daewongun during the third year of King Gojong 's reign. The persecution lasted for six years until 1872, during which more than 8,000 laypeople and many missionaries from the Paris Foreign Missions Society were executed.
Lee, Ki-Baik. "A New History of Korea." Harvard University Press, 1984. Eperjesi, John R. "The Catholic Church in Korea: Its Origins 1566-1784." Dissertation, The Catholic University of America, 1977. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea. "History of the Catholic Church in Korea." CBCK, 2011. Baek, Seung-hoon. "The History of the Korean Catholic Church." Jung-eum-sa, 2009.
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