Meoru Mountain Catholic Community

History & origins

The formation of the Merusan Catholic Village belongs to the movement of Catholics who left their homes after the Sinyu Persecution of 1801 and sought refuge in the mountains of northern Yeongnam. Catholics who migrated from Chungcheong and other regions gathered in remote mountain areas where they could more easily avoid outside attention, and Merusan in Jinbo became one such Catholic village. There they sustained their livelihoods while learning the faith together and maintaining Catholic life.

When the Eulhae Persecution swept through northern Gyeongsang in 1815, government officers raided Merusan and took Catholics under arrest to Andong. Alexius Kim Si-u, who was living in the village, did not conceal his faith and was arrested; after being transferred to Daegu, he died in prison around 1816 after punishment and imprisonment. Anna Yi Si-im, who was also living at Merusan with her son, was arrested and sent through Andong to Daegu. Despite a long imprisonment and punishment, she remained faithful and was martyred at Gwandukjeong in Daegu on December 19, 1816.

The Eulhae Persecution effectively destroyed the Merusan Catholic Village, and the remaining Catholics were dispersed. The site of the community and the memory of the martyrs who had lived there, however, did not disappear. Alexius Kim Si-u and Anna Yi Si-im were beatified by Pope Francis on August 16, 2014, and Merusan continues today as a place where their lives and the faith of mountain Catholic villages during the persecution era are remembered together.