THREAD: The Roman Catholic Church in Korea (Cheonjugyo // 천주교)

Table of Contents

1. Background // Before Christianity
2. Introduction of Christianity
3. Persecution
4. 20th Century Korea
5. Today
6. Further Reading

1. Background // Before Christianity

Prior to the arrival of Catholic missionary Gregorio Céspedes in Busan on December 27th 1593, Korea had a religious landscape quite similar to China and Japan - a large Buddhist population with Confucianism, Taoism and other folk religions...

...practiced. The first religions practiced in Korea is the traditional polytheistic folk religion centered around the Mu (무), known as Muism. This is a shamanistic and animist paganism similar to the nearby Wuism, Shintoism and Manchurian & Siberian shamanist religions.

Buddhism first arrived in the 4th century AD from China and spread throughout the peninsula. It developed various independent schools, but by the 14th century the Joseon dynasty had came to power and they implemented a strict Neo-Confucianism. For the next five centuries,

Buddhists would face persecution and gradually fall in popularity. Today they are just 15% of the population in the ROK and less than 5% in North Korea.

2. Introduction of Christianity

Christianity would first find itself in Korea with the arrival of Catholic missionary Gregorio Céspedes in Busan on December 27th 1593. It wasn't until the late 18th century that Catholicism began to take root however, when Yi Seung-hun (이승훈)

was baptized in China. Seung-hun was at the forefront of the initial growth of the Church, and by the time it had its first ordained priest in 1795 there was over 4000 members.

3. Persecution

Persecution began at the beginning of the 19th century. At the beginning of 1801, the Sinyu Persecution resulted in the deaths of over 300 Christians, including Seung-hun and his aunt, Yi Ga-hwan (李家煥). Persecution remained prevalent throughout the century,

with foreign missionaries being executed and important converts martyred or forced to apostatize. Despite this, lay Catholics remained firm in their faith and the underground Church continued to grow with the help of French missionaries. Little writing remains from the early

Korean Church that Seung-hun was apart of, but the Mancheon yugo (蔓川遺稿) was discovered in 1970 and contains a small collection of writings from him and Yi Byeok, who had originally urged Seung-hun to seek out a Catholic priest when he was in Beijing.

The main reason for persecution was Christianity's incompatibility with the historic faiths of Korea. Buddhism, Confucianism and traditional religions were more flexible than Christianity, and allowed for the ancestor worship that was so important in Korean religious life.

However, Christians viewed ancestor worship as being idolatrous, and as such could not practice it.

Persecution continued until the end of the century, making many more martyrs such as Andrew Kim Taegon, the first native born priest, and Paul Yun Ji Chung.

By the end of the 19th century, the Joseon attitude had softened significantly, and Christianity became a status symbol of modernization and being classy. Members of the royal family even came to fund missionary efforts.

4. 20th Century Korea

The Japanese occupation of Korea was relatively safer for Christians in Korea. Both Protestantism and Catholicism grew steadily, despite efforts by Japanese officials to slow down growth.

Christianity had became intertwined with Korean nationalism, and became fiercely anti-communist as the Korean War came about. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary grew in the South as she was seen as having saved them from Japanese imperialism and communism.

Following the war, the Movement to Overthrow Superstition (미신 타파 운동) in combination with the New Community Movement (social reforms targeting rural Korea), traditional folk religions were suppressed.

While Christianity fared well in the South, Christians were persecuted in the North. Despite being raised by Protestant parents, Kim Il-Sung's Juche ideology was inherently atheist and hostile to western ideas such as Christianity.

5. Today

Persecution continues in the North. Open Doors ranks North Korea as the country where Christians are persecuted the most, with the Juche ideology evolving into a religion worshipping the Kim family and North Korean culture.

In the South, Koreans are safe to practice their faith but numbers are diminishing. 10-11% of elderly Koreans (60+) are nominally Catholic but just 7-9% of adult Koreans (20-60) can say the same. The generational gap is visible in all religions.

Catholics are quite successful in Korea too, with two out of the last five presidents being Catholics, including incumbent President Moon Jae-in.

6. Further Reading

I haven't read many books on Korean Christianity in particular, but for general Korean history (which covers Christianity) I recommend

A New History of Korea by Ki-baik Lee
A Review of Korean History Vol. 2 by Hang Young Woo