Saltillo Faith Shrine

Overview

The Salti Shrine is a shrine of the Diocese of Busan located in Deokhyeon-ri, Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, and is the place where the Salti Catholic mission chapel, the oldest extant Catholic mission chapel in the Diocese of Busan, and the tomb of Peter Kim Yeong-je are found. Good News introduces Salti as a Catholic village continued from the time of the early Church and as a home of vocations that has produced many clergy, including Bishop Choi Jae-seon.

History

[Founding of the Salti Catholic Mission Chapel] Good News writes that the Salti Catholic mission chapel (1868 onward) was founded after the nearby Ganwol Catholic mission chapel and Daejae Catholic mission chapel were destroyed by persecution, and is thus the oldest extant Catholic mission chapel in the Diocese of Busan. It is said that Salti in the persecution era, thick with trees and full of wild beasts, was a secluded area difficult for people to enter, and therefore an excellent refuge for believers. After the persecution ended and freedom of faith was granted, believers who had settled in Ansalti came down to Salti, where the present chapel stands, in search of flat land for cultivating fields and paddies, and formed a Catholic village. The present chapel building was erected in 1982 with the help of benefactors of the Diocese of Busan.

[Peter Kim Yeong-je] Good News writes that Peter Kim Yeong-je inherited the faith from his grandfather Francisco Kim Gyo-hui and his father Jacob Kim Sang-eun, who became the first believers in the Busan region, and that after moving from one Catholic village to another to escape persecution, he returned to Ganwol, founded a Catholic mission chapel, and built the chapel building in 1858. It is said that he was arrested in the Gyeongsin Persecution in 1860, transported to Hanyang, and then released, and that he was arrested again in the Mujin Persecution in 1868, when many believers were seized and the Ganwol and Daejae Catholic mission chapels disappeared. In Daegu he suffered extreme torture by officials, his tailbone was crushed so that he was left disabled, and after being transferred to Hanyang, he was specially pardoned after 9 months, returned, settled in Ansalti, founded the Salti Catholic mission chapel, served as its chairman, and moved to present-day Salti in search of farmable flat land. Suffering from the aftereffects of the torture, he died on January 24, 1876.

[Renovation of the Tomb] According to Good News, the tomb of Kim Yeong-je near the Salti Catholic mission chapel was renovated by believers of Eonyang Church in November 1981, who erected a memorial monument, and in April 1994 the remains were transferred under the direction of the Busan Diocesan History Research Institute to the present location, about 18m to the northwest. At that time, with donations from believers of Ulsan Parish, the grave was renovated, a martyrdom monument was erected, and a cross, an altar, a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a statue of the Virgin Mary, a shrine marker stone and others were erected. In March 2008, the grave of his younger sister Agatha Kim, which had been in Ganwol, was moved next to the tomb of Kim Yeong-je, a blessing ceremony was held in September of that year, and above the family grave on the right side of the siblings’ graves are also the graves of his father Kim Sang-eun and his mother Maria Choi.

Related Places and People

• Tomb of Peter Kim Yeong-je and Agatha Kim: sibling tombs standing side by side near the Salti Catholic mission chapel (Good News).
• Ganwol and Daejae Catholic mission chapels: nearby Catholic mission chapels whose destruction by persecution led to the founding of the Salti Catholic mission chapel (Good News).
• Eonyang Church: the parish of the believers who renovated the tomb of Kim Yeong-je in 1981 and erected a memorial monument (Good News).

References and Sources

1. Catholic Good News Shrines and Historic Sites, “Salti Catholic Mission Chapel” (Diocese of Busan). Founding of the mission chapel, formation of the Catholic village, chapel building in 1982.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2329
2. Catholic Good News Shrines and Historic Sites, “Tomb of Peter Kim Yeong-je and Agatha Kim in Salti” (Diocese of Busan). Life and martyrdom of Kim Yeong-je, renovation and transfer of the tomb.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2330