"In this Audience I want to present to you another witness of apostolic zeal. This time it comes to us from distant lands," Pope Francis said. "Indeed, St. Andrew Kim Taegon was the first priest martyred in Korea. Two hundred years ago, there was a strong persecution in that country, and it was not possible to confess the faith openly. Before that, it was the laity who evangelized Korea," he added.
"His life was and continues to be an eloquent witness of zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel." "I highlight two scenes that give us proof of this zeal," he continued. "In the first, we see St. Andrew faced with the difficulty of having no choice but to meet the faithful in public. And managing to recognize himself without anyone noticing." He summed up his identity in two words: 'disciples of Jesus'."
The blood of the martyrs
On May 16, 1984, on his return from his apostolic journey to various Asian countries, St. John Paul II estimated that around ten thousand people were Korean martyrs. And he said: "When reading the "Acta martyrum" of the 19th century in the Korean land, a close analogy with the "Martyrologium romanum" comes to mind. The "great works of God" per martyrres are repeated at different times in history and in different parts of the world".
In two centuries of existence, the Church in Korea, Pope John Paul II added, "growing on the soil made so deeply fertile by the blood of the martyrs, has developed greatly. It now has about 1,600,000 faithful," he said, and "this development continues. The numerous conversions and baptisms (...), the great number of priestly and religious vocations, the deep Catholic conscience of the laity and their lively apostolic commitment bear witness to this".
