The Way We Were - A new mission field for St Columbans
01.01.1970
The Far East in 1933 announced the exciting news of an exciting new mission to Korea.
We are thankful to God and honoured by the Holy See in receiving this new trust which we pray will be the means of bringing grace and the knowledge of God to many pagan souls in Korea.
Korea is a peninsula 600 miles long by 200 miles wide. Renamed by the Japanese with its ancient designation of 'Land of the Morning Calm', Korea is often referred to as the Hermit Kingdom because of the wall of aloofness which it presented to the foreigner.
The introduction of the Gospel into the Land of Morning Calm is one of the romances of religious history, paralleled only by the secret preservation of the faith for two hundred and fifty years by its neighbour Japan. The astounding fact is that 4000 people were baptised in eleven years before the first missionary priest set foot in the country!
A group of Koreans paying tribute at the court in Peking brought back with them some Catholic books written by Catholic missionaries at the court. A small group of young men dedicated to study discovered the books and found them interesting. A friend was returning to Peking and they persuaded him to look up the European missionaries in Peking; he did so and was impressed by the new teaching, was baptised and returned to Korea; his baptismal name was Peter.
He instructed 'the club' who were in turn baptised. Their preaching prospered and many were baptised. As usual the Government became first interested and then alarmed and the persecuting hand was soon felt. In 1925, 76 Korean martyrs were beatified by the Church as the first Korean martyrs. Within 11 years the number of Christians had become 4,000 yet no priest had set foot in the country. The first priest to enter was a Chinese, Father Tiyou who in five years brought the number of faithful to 10,000. He too won the crown of martyrdom; and from then on persecution and toleration reigned by turns.
In 1846 the first Korean priest Father Andrew Kim was ordained in Shanghai and sailed for Korea. His apostolate must be a record of brevity. He had spent 15 years in his studies and his missionary labours measured exactly 15 days. Detected by the authorities he was arrested and imprisoned, tried and executed. He was among those beatified in 1925. So many Christians perished in the persecutions- especially the four great persecutions, the last of which ended only in 1876.
In 1880 Fr Gustave –Charles- Marie Mutel arrived in Korea at the age of 26 years. He belonged to the renowned Foreign Mission Society of Paris. For his first five years he could venture out only at night and led a hunted existence, disguised as a peasant. But in 1885 the Hermit Kingdom was thrown open to the world and the preachers of the Gospel emerged from the catacombs. During the 41 years of his episcopacy, Archbishop Mutel saw the registry of over two hundred and sixty thousand souls received into the Church by Baptism.
Part of the Vicariate Apostolic of Taikou in the extreme south of the country has been allotted to St Columban's Mission and our ten priests are at present on their way there. They will devote themselves to the study of the strange and difficult Korean language for some time and then spread themselves over their new territory.
The Far East
December 1, 1921, page 3.
