Sangju Okteo Martyrs' Shrine

Overview

The Sangju Prison Site is a shrine of the Catholic Diocese of Andong in Sangju City, North Gyeongsang Province, and is the prison site of the Sangju Garrison where believers arrested in Catholic villages throughout Gyeongbuk during the persecution era were imprisoned and martyred. It is the place where Matthias Park Sang-geun, the first Blessed of the Diocese of Andong, was martyred, and the Diocese of Andong held the shrine blessing ceremony there on August 24, 2014.

History

[Sangju Prison in the Persecution Era] According to Maeil Shinmun, as Sangju was a place with a magistrate (local governor) from the Shinhae Persecution (1791) to the Byeongin Persecution (1866) during the Catholic persecution era, believers arrested throughout Gyeongbuk were brought to the Gyeongsang Provincial Office in Daegu or the Sangju government office, where they were imprisoned and martyred. An article carried in Catholic Good News, citing walking pilgrimage materials of the Diocese of Andong, reports that in the late Joseon period the prison site of the Sangju Garrison is the old Sojeon area of Nam-mun Market in Seongdong-dong, present-day Sangju City (including Daegu Yeoinsuk), and that believers confined in prison were dragged out to the government office of the Sangju magistrate-cum-commander, “below the south of Wangsan,” to be interrogated.

[Interrogation and Martyrdom] The same article writes that many believers either apostatized or were martyred during interrogation, and that according to oral tradition many believers died after being hung from the large hackberry tree southeast just in front of Wangsan while being interrogated, and that after interrogation some were dragged back to prison to die in prison or were sentenced to death and martyred at the execution ground. It is said that the execution grounds at the time were Sojeon in Seongdong-dong right next to the prison site (near the present Daegu Yeoinsuk) and the barracks outside the West Gate (from the fire station to near Seomun-dong Church).

[Designation as a Shrine] Maeil Shinmun (September 13, 2014 edition) reported that the Sangju Prison Site, where the remains of Matthias Park Sang-geun are enshrined, was designated as an official shrine. The Diocese of Andong held the blessing ceremony for the Sangju Prison Site on August 24, 2014 (Sunday), presided over by Diocesan Bishop Kwon Hyeok-ju, and at the time the prison site was introduced as being located at Nam-mun 2-gil, Sangju City. The total number of Sangju Prison Site martyrs confirmed through Church documents and other sources is 19. Matthias Park Sang-geun became Blessed at the “Beatification of Paul Yun Ji-chung and 124 Companions” celebrated by Pope Francis during his visit to Korea in August 2014.

[Honoring after the Beatification] Maeil Shinmun writes that the Diocese of Andong, marking September, the Month of Martyrs, produced and distributed to believers a prayer booklet containing the “Brief Life of Martyrdom of Blessed Matthias Park Sang-geun,” his portrait and prayers, and that on September 21, 2014 (Sunday) at 3 p.m. it held the “Thanksgiving Mass for the Beatification of Martyr Matthias Park Sang-geun,” presided over by the diocesan bishop, at the Mawon Shrine in Mungyeong. The Mawon Shrine is where Matthias Park Sang-geun lived until his arrest. The Diocese of Andong designated the Sangju Prison Site and the Mawon Shrine in Mungyeong as plenary-indulgence pilgrimage sites in September 2014 for the whole month.

Related Places and Figures

• Matthias Park Sang-geun: the first Blessed of the Diocese of Andong, martyred at the Sangju Prison Site (Maeil Shinmun). He lived at the Mawon Shrine in Mungyeong.
• John Yi Yun-il: the 2 patron saint of the Archdiocese of Daegu, introduced as a believer arrested in a Catholic village in Gyeongbuk and imprisoned in the Sangju prison (Maeil Shinmun). The Good News article describes him as a martyr transferred from the Sangju prison to another place.
• Mawon Shrine in Mungyeong: the place where Matthias Park Sang-geun lived until his arrest (Maeil Shinmun).
• Sangju Confession of Faith Monument: another shrine in the Sangju district of the Diocese of Andong, introduced together with the prison site (Good News).

References and Sources

1. Catholic Good News shrine and historic-site board, “[Foundation of Faith] Sangju Prison Site and Confession of Faith Monument of the Diocese of Andong” (article carried in the August 2025 issue of the Legion of Mary). Changes in the location of the prison site, interrogation and execution grounds, chapel and list of martyrs.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/board/board_view.asp?bbsgubun=pds&id=80650&infogubun=org&infoid=2348&menugubun=holyplace&orggubun=71
2. Maeil Shinmun, “Only 19 Martyrs: Designation of the ‘Sangju Prison Site’ as a Shrine” (2014.9.13). Shrine blessing ceremony (2014.8.24), 19 martyrs, Matthias Park Sang-geun and beatification-related events.
   https://www.imaeil.com/page/view/2014091307062392681