By Kayla Lee

 

A blessing ceremony was held in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to unveil a statue of the first Korean priest, Father Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon (1821-1846) on April 16 at 4:30 p.m. local time.

 

The day marks the 177th anniversary of Father Kim's martyrdom. Installed on the exterior wall near the exit of the catacombs of St. Peter's Cathedral, the statue of Father Kim Tae-gon is a full-length statue measuring 3.7 meters in height and 1.83 meters in width, depicting Father Kim with his arms outstretched, dressed in a hanbok, including a lampshade and dopo. 

 

 

The statue was created by sculptor Han Jin-seop, and the phrase "St. Kim Tae-gon Andrew Priest Martyr" is inscribed on the top row in Korean. This is the first time in church history that a statue of an Eastern saint has been erected in St. Peter's Basilica. It is also the first time a statue of a saint other than the founder of an order has been installed on the exterior wall of a cathedral.

 

The decision to install the statue was made after Cardinal Yoo Heung-sik, the Vatican's secretary of state for the clergy, asked Pope Francesco to consecrate the statue in 2021 on the 200th anniversary of Father Kim Tae-gon's birth. "Starting with Father Kim Tae-gon, we will now bring to St. Peter's an image representing each people and nation," said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, who presided over the blessing. "Today's blessing is an expression of the hope that the churches of East and West will walk together."

 

 

Prior to the blessing, a commemorative Mass was celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican with Cardinal Yoo presiding. "I hope and pray that young people around the world will emulate the life of Father Kim Tae-gon, who lived a short life of 25 years but never lost hope and courage in the face of difficulties," Cardinal Yoo said. 

The commemorative Mass and blessing ceremony was attended by more than 400 people, including Bishop Yong-hoon Lee, president of the Korean Catholic Bishops' Conference. Sculptor Han Jin-seop said, "He has become not only Father Kim Tae-gon of Korea (only), but also Saint Kim Tae-gon Andrew of the world."

 

Meanwhile, during a special audience with the Korean Catholic Church delegation in Clemens Hall at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace earlier in the day, Pope Francesco recalled his August 2014 visit to the shrine of Solmö in Dangjin, Chungnam Province, where Father Kim was born. 

 

 

"I was reminded of the words of John 12:24: 'Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit,'" the Pope said. "St. Kim Tae-gon, who was the first Korean priest and was martyred at a young age not long after receiving the priesthood, helped me understand the beautiful history of your faith with spiritual eyes," he said.

 

Related to this, President Yoon Suk-yeol said in a letter to Pope Francesco on Nov. 16 (local time), "On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Holy See, I hope that the friendly and cooperative relations that have been established will be further deepened."

 

Kang Seung-gyu, head of the Office of the President for Civil Society, paid an official visit to the Vatican as a presidential envoy on Sept. 16 and met with Pope Francesco to deliver Yoon's letter.

 

 

In the letter, President Yoon thanked Pope Francesco for his interest in dedicating a statue of Father Kim Tae-gon to St. Peter's Basilica to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth.

 

Kang expressed his appreciation for Pope Francesco's decision to select Seoul as the venue for the 2027 World Youth Congress, and said that he would actively support the successful hosting of the event.

 

Kang then met with Paul Gallagher, the Holy See's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and thanked the Holy See for being the first diplomatic mission to Korea since its liberation, contributing significantly to the process by which the Korean government was recognized as a legitimate government by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, and for its support for recovery after the Korean War.

 

 

Mr. Gallagher explained that there was no objection to the installation of a statue of Father Kim Tae-gon in a niche outside St. Peter's Basilica, and thanked the South Korean government for expressing its solidarity with the Holy See.

 

Kang visited the Holy See from Sept. 14-17, where he met with Vatican Secretary of State for the Congregation for the Clergy Yoo Heung-sik and attended a Mass and blessing ceremony for the installation of the statue of Father Kim Tae-gon.

 

Introduction of Father Kim Tae-gon by Wikipedia

 

Andrew Kim Tae-gon (21 August 1821 – 16 September 1846), also referred to as Andrew Kim in English, was the first Korean-born Catholic priest and is the patron saint of Korean clergy.

In the late 18th century, Catholicism began to take root slowly in Korea, having been introduced by scholars who visited China and brought back Western books translated into Chinese. In 1836 Korea saw its first consecrated missionaries (members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society) arrive, only to find out that the people there were already practicing Korean Catholics.

 

Born of Yangban, Kim's parents were converts and his father was subsequently martyred for practicing Christianity, a prohibited activity in heavily Confucian Korea. After being baptized at age 15, Kim studied at a seminary in the Portuguese colony of Macau. He also spent time in study at Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines, where today he is also venerated. 

He was ordained a priest in Shanghai after nine years (1844) by the French bishop Jean Joseph Jean-Baptiste Ferréol. He then returned to Korea to preach and evangelize. During the Joseon Dynasty, Christianity was suppressed and many Christians were persecuted and executed. Catholics had to practice their faith covertly. Kim was one of several thousand Christians who were executed during this time. In 1846, at the age of 25, he was tortured and beheaded near Seoul on the Han River. His last words were:

 

“This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively: if I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death, because God has eternal chastisements in store for those who have refused to know Him.

Before Ferréol, the first bishop of Korea, died from exhaustion on 3 February 1853, he wanted to be buried beside Kim, stating, "You will never know how sad I was to lose this young native priest. I have loved him as a father loved his son; it is a consolation for me to think of his eternal happiness."

 

On 6 May 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized Kim along with 102 other Korean Martyrs, including Paul Chong Hasang, during his trip to Korea. The feast day of Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Paul Chong Hasang and companions is celebrated on 20 September.