Kim Young-je Tomb

History & origins

Peter Kim Yeong-je inherited the Catholic faith of his family and took part in forming Catholic communities in the Eonyang area during the era of persecution. According to GoodNews, after returning to Ganwol he welcomed Fathers Antoine Daveluy and Thomas Choe Yang-eop, established a mission station, and built a mission-station building in 1858. At that time many Catholics who had fled persecution from other regions gathered in the Ganwol area and formed a Catholic village.

During the Gyeongsin Persecution of 1860, Kim Yeong-je was arrested with his father, his younger sister Kim Agatha, and other Catholics. He was taken through Daegu to Seoul and later released, but he was arrested again in 1868 and subjected to severe torture. While being interrogated at the Daegu provincial office about the whereabouts of missionary priests, he suffered a serious injury to his kneecap. After receiving a special amnesty in 1869, he searched for his scattered family and settled at Ansalti.

At Ansalti, Kim Yeong-je re-established a mission station and served as its leader. When persecution eased, he moved to the present Salti area in search of level land that could be farmed. The effects of torture continued to worsen, however, and he died on January 24, 1876. GoodNews explains that a death occurring later from injuries inflicted under torture is remembered in the Church as martyrdom resulting from beating, and it commemorates Kim Yeong-je as a martyr.

In November 1981, Catholics of Eonyang Parish restored his grave and erected a memorial stone. On April 2, 1994, under the direction of the Busan Church History Research Institute, his remains were transferred to the present location, where the tomb, a martyr memorial, a cross, an altar, and other elements were newly arranged. In 2008, the grave of his younger sister Kim Agatha was moved beside his own, leaving the siblings' graves side by side. Through this process, the grave of Kim Yeong-je developed from an individual burial place into a pilgrimage site that preserves the faith history of the Eonyang community during persecution.