St. Andrew Kim Taegon

Today is the feast of St. Andrew Kim Taegon and the Martyrs of Korea. St. Andrew’s parents were converts and his father was a martyr. St. Andrew converted at age 15 and became the first native priest of Korea. Additionally, he was the first priest martyred in Korea; he was tortured and beheaded in Seoul in 1846. St. Andrew is the leader of the Martyrs of Korea, a group including about 103 priests, missionaries and laypeople who were martyred when the church was just starting in Korea.