This week in Christian history: Korean saint born, Paula White announces divorce, DC earthquake  

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, August 21, 2022

First Korean Catholic priest born – Aug. 21, 1821

This week marks the anniversary of when St. Andrew Kim Taegon, the first Roman Catholic priest of the Korean Peninsula and a martyr of the faith, was born in South Chungcheong Province.

Ordained a priest in Shanghai in 1845, he was executed for his beliefs over a year later on Sept. 16, 1846, as part of a wave of anti-Christian violence in Korea.

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

Subscribe

“His martyrdom took place during the wave of persecution of Catholics by the Joseon dynasty, which did not even spare the families of executed Catholics,” Vatican News reported in 2021.

“Andrew Kim is among the 103 Korean martyrs, including 15 women, canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in Seoul on May 6, 1984. Their feast is celebrated on Sept. 20.”

In 2021, around 1,700 Catholic churches in South Korea celebrated the 200th anniversary of his birth, with events including masses both in-person and virtually, during the COVID-19 pandemic.