Saltillo Faith Shrine

History & origins

The Catholic history of the Salti area took shape through the movement of believers who sought refuge in the mountains during times of persecution. According to the official account of Eonyang Parish, the family of Peter Kim Yeong-je settled in Ganwolgol to escape persecution, and Catholics in the area continued their faith with visits from clergy including Fr. Thomas Choe Yang-eop and Fr. Daveluy. As persecution intensified, earlier Christian villages were dispersed, and believers moved deeper into the mountains and toward Salti, where they rebuilt community life.

Peter Kim Yeong-je was arrested during a period of persecution, taken as far as Seoul, and severely tortured before being released and returning home. He later searched for his scattered family, resettled in the mountain area, and helped sustain the community; he is recorded as having died in 1876 from the aftereffects of torture. Although he did not die at the execution ground, his memory remains at Salti as a witness who kept the faith under persecution. The grave of Kim Agatha is also preserved at the same location, and both graves are now separately listed among Catholic historic and pilgrimage sites associated with the Diocese of Busan.

After the intensity of persecution subsided, a Christian village again took shape at Salti, and the mission station and graves became important traces of the Catholic history of the Eonyang area. The exact founding year of Salti Mission Station, however, should not be stated as a single settled date because the official Eonyang Parish source itself gives two different accounts, 1868 and 1883. The historical significance of today's Salti site therefore rests less on one disputed foundation year than on its continuity with a persecuted Christian village and the memory of Peter Kim Yeong-je and other believers who preserved their faith.