Korean Martyrs Blessed Sisters

History & origins

The Sisters of the Blessed Korean Martyrs were founded in Gaeseong on April 21, 1946, by Father Bang Yu-ryong. From the early years of the congregation, the sisters devoted considerable effort to collecting and organizing relics of Korean martyrs and materials from Korean Church history. This work was tied to their mission of handing on the martyrs’ faith to later generations and fostering devotion to them, and it became the direct background for establishing a new base at Oryundae in Busan. The collection included relics of martyrs from the persecution era, writings left by early Catholics, instruments of persecution, and objects recovered from Catholic villages, creating a growing need for a place where these materials could be systematically studied and displayed.

The congregation decided to create a place in Busan where Catholics living far from Seoul could encounter the heritage of the martyrs more closely. With the support of Bishop Choi Jae-seon of Busan, two sisters were sent to Oryundae in June 1968 and a local community was established, providing the foundation for the project. Oryundae subsequently developed as a place where a religious community and the work of honoring the martyrs grew together.

Fund-raising bazaars for the construction project began in 1973. Ground was broken on September 30, 1976, and the Martyrs’ Church was completed on July 20, 1977. Relics of twenty Korean beatified martyrs were placed in the church, and graves of martyrs associated with Busan were transferred to Oryundae that same year. In 1978, the congregation moved its collection of martyr relics and Church-history materials from its Seoul motherhouse to Oryundae, further strengthening the site as a center for preservation and study.

The memorial building was blessed on October 5, 1981, and formally opened on September 25, 1982. Today’s St. Andrew Kim Monastery stands within this historical continuity of the congregation’s settlement at Oryundae and its work of honoring the martyrs. The available sources do not establish when the present monastery title came into use, so no date for that naming change is asserted here.