CATHOLICS IN KOREA

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 14, 7 April 1904, Page 29

CATHOLICS IN KOREA

As Korea is at present occupying an unenviable position in the struggle for supremacy in the Far TJast between Russia and Japan the following account of the labors and heroism of Catholic* missionaries in that country, which Aye take from the London ' Tablet,' cannot fail to be of interest to our readers, making, i s it were, a supplement to the utterances of the Rev. Father Benedict, OP, on Christianity in Japan, which appeared in our issue of March 10. Our comtemporary after discussing the perils, which threaten the Hermit Kingdom especially when it enters upon the transition stage of process which will naturally result from contact witji Europeans and the Japanese, goes on to say • — But there are other interests endangered, the protection of which is less easy, and the Christians of Korea., scattered through the provinces, will, it may be feared, profit little from the presence of the Legation Guards in Seolul This disquieting view is taken by the VicarApost'oric of Korea, and he has sent a report to the Vatican calling attention to it. He states that in consequence of the Russo-Japanese dispute, the Korean Catholics are evpo.sed to grave risks, and he points out that Ins predecessor suffered fifteen years' imprisonment for want of adequate protection Persecution and Martyrdom may, indeed, he said to be almost the normal condition of the Church 111 Korea, where santruinarv edicts penalised the adoption of Christianity The Peninsula, suilounded by the sea on three sides, and on the fnnrih, separated from the mainland by an uninhabited wilrtciness KHIOII square miles in extent, niamtarird its mnoimi', isolation down to a comparatively recent date No comniunu at ion was permitted with foieign slmos r \_ cept 1.1 Koie.in boats, and c^ en shmwirvked crews wcie thrown into pnson Access fiom the land was <ut ofT by frontier maids, whose task wns tendered ea^v Y\ the desol.i don (if the count rv nr.fi the absence of tonds through it It was not until IS7O that a conureirial treaty was sis^e-'* wen with Japan, and the opening of tie.it', ports to Europeans came Inter sti'l Yet ti'ie^e difficulties ('id not rtpunt heioi' 1 missjonanes, of whim the pioneer was a Chinese priest Th's harbinger of tie Gospel succeeded niithe year 1795 in Ins Daring \ttempt to pass the frontier in disguise, and on Easter .Sunday ceicbmted Mass for the fust time in the pagan kintrdoni" lie liu'fl and I.uisrht for six years, but 111 IHM m.irtvnlom uit/h Him of his disnnlos His fate c'ul jjot rider oPios from fol'owine in his footstep 1 -, fU'd n^nv oihei riissiorniies shared his cinvn The first Vwai\posio!ic ami iwo miests fell \id 1111s to a peisectii inn m l.s^'l, ,v (1 with them 127 natnes died for t'-e fait li f\ilho!i( i' m fdT the time seemed stamped out m LlooM, and it w !<- not until 1815 that the next Vi>ar- Anosf ov' snfcoofjfwi m maKinir his vnv oih'c nioic into th^ mi<Kt of the lost or scattered flock The cou'-atre arcl per severance lewnpd to reach them may be nuvMiied by the faxi that one of his priests sneni ten ye.? is ir a series of attempt-. 1o penetrate tlie bamors, in nhich ho at last succeeded in 1852 Yet, few and lrsi'fTn lent as v ore the missionaries under these circumstance*-, their bbms were crowned with an abundant har\est In 18 (if! tihe Catholics numbered 21,000, among whom were sn\eral native candidates for the piiesthood The enthusiast rr- piety of many of the converts seemed to opeo the vista of a future full of pionnse, and it

might have appeared as though the nascent Church had survived the most perilous stage of its existence. But its progress no doubt alarmed the jealous tinnorousness of paganism and in the year 18G6 the storm of persecution burst in full force on pastor and flock. On March 8 the \ *car-Apostolic was beheaded with three mc?tTh On <l ' bef ° re thC Cnd ° f ihe lUOnth five other Suffered Martyrdom These executions were the prelude to a general massacre of native Christians, in which some 10,000 perished, including those who died of the haidbhips and suftenngs endured in seeking to escape For ten years Korea remained inaccessible to Catholic missionaries Deprived of priests and teachers, the surviving remnant of the Christian population had but the memory of what they had once learned to keep alive the spark of faith in taieir hearts. But it was ready to revive under favoring circumstances, and these came with the return of the missionaries in May, 18T6. ' On their return (writes Bishop Mutel, Vicar-Apostolic, summaris- ! n tf!i, Sf ry r' th l n ? lssion in his re p° rt for toe year 1900) the Christians had been so persecuted and harried that at first the missionaries could find but a few thousands scattered here and there among the pagans Only the most urgent work could be undertaken At" first no regular ministration, still less the keeping of registries was to be thought of. Not till later was it, possible to reckon Up our losses. The victims of the persecution may be estimated at 10,000, including both those who perished at the hands of the executioner and those who succumbed to misery and every kind of P 7 V P at i 1 °?-, Of J llhe 15 ' 000 survi vors, two-thirds remained faithful and awaiteti but the return of the missionaries to approach the Sacraments. The others fell into a state of tepidity and returned but by degrees ' The number of apostates was very small, consisting either of neophytes imperfectly grounded in the faith, or of nch people concerned to save their temporal goods Of many of the martyrs who died in this wholesale persecution the names and story will never be known but all will be honored comprehensively as Korean Martyrs. The subsequent growth of the Church in Korea is due rather to adult baptisms than to natural increase, for though the birthrate is high it is counteracted by a correspondingly high figure of infant mortality. The Catholic population was estimated in 1900 at 42 441 but owing to inevitable omissions the Vicar-Apostolic behoves the real figure would have been nearer 45,000 The figure of 10,000 given in Reuter's telegram, as the number of Catholics in Korea must therefore be a misprint, or must apply only to the capital ' One seminary (says Monsignor Mutel in conclusion) has just nven us three new native priests , with them ends 'the ■•eiir.s of sludents which have made a part of their studies in the Pmajig College We ha-ve thus at pr<*-M-nt twehe natne priests in the mission and thirty-six students m the seminary' That the ranks of' the fleipy should be thus recruited fiom among the natives i, a nwst hopeful aueuiy for the tutuie of the Church in Korea, and for the solidity with which its teaching is rromnded in the minds of the people To this the heroism and devotion of the missionaries have mainly contiibuted, since the evample of their faith cannot have failed to be contagious No imaginary story of adventure is more wondeiful than that of their efforts to penetrate the almost, impassable barriers of the Hermit Kingdom, wif,h death generally as the reward alike of fvilurc or success Nor does this earnestness fail to win admiration from non-Catholic writers, and a Protestant minister, who visited both China and Japan, sneaks of them as follows . •It is not surprising that the Heroic Missionaries of the Roman Church win the plaudits of on-lookcrs v. ho are not impressed by the pleasant home life, with wi^e ard children and abundant comforts, of the Pro-le-t.i.nt missionary llowe\er out of sympathy with the c'ogpws of the Roman Church, their poverty, endurance, patience, and suffering excite the admiration of .'ll Wver.\ thoughtful missionary is forced to ask himself whether the Reformation did not go too far ; whether t/he pnestly monastic militant types arc not,' after all, moie in accord with the missionary spirit.' The eivalngielisatioin of Korea was not, in point of fact, attempted by any other Christian community until the oifTing of the ports facilitated intercourse, nor has nr'Th henrhvav been made by them since. Presbyterians a?'d WpUio'disK fiom the United States came first, but n-'mbc- .scarcely 200 converts between them, while no returns are made by the six other non-Catholic societies rnnrp'-ontod in the Peninsula. Thus the Church has a f r eo field in a.n area where she has purchased pre-emp-tion with the lives of her servants.