Baeti Martyr Shrine

Overview

Baeti Shrine is a shrine of the Catholic Diocese of Cheongju located in Yangbaek-ri, Baekgok-myeon, Jincheon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, where a Catholic village stood in the persecution era and where the first seminary of the Joseon Vicariate was founded and Father Choe Yang-eop made his pastoral center. The Baeti Shrine website introduces it under four descriptions: the pastoral center of Father Choe Yang-eop and the missionaries, the first seminary of the Joseon Vicariate, the resting place of Blessed O Ban-ji Paul and the unnamed martyrs, and a secret Catholic village of the persecution era, and the shrine area is designated as a Chungcheongbuk-do Monument.

History

〔Place name〕 Baeti means “pear-tree pass,” named for the many wild pear trees around the pass leading from Jincheon in Chungbuk to Anseong in Gyeonggi-do, and it is written in Chinese characters as Ichi (梨峙) (Baeti Shrine). The Digital Jincheon Culture Encyclopedia reports, along with this origin, another theory that it was called “Paechi” after villagers led by elder Yi Sun-gon defeated Yi In-jwa when he raised a rebellion in the reign of King Yeongjo and passed through Baekgok, and that “Paechi” later changed to “Baeti.”

〔Formation of the Catholic village〕 According to the Baeti Shrine website, this place was a remote area with almost no inhabitants and lay on the border of Chungcheong-jwado, Chungcheong-udo and Gyeonggi-do, making it suitable for the faithful fleeing persecution to live in hiding. Although not precisely confirmed by records, the faithful are presumed to have begun hiding here after the 1801 Sinyu Persecution, and by the early 1830s there were reportedly several Catholic villages where the faithful lived. The Diocese of Cheongju shrine introduction states that the name Jincheon first appears in church history records around 1813 (a record that Brother Won Peter, from Deokmeori in Hongju, fled to “Jilmaro” in Jincheon) and estimates that the Baeti Catholic village was formed around 1830. The Digital Jincheon Culture Encyclopedia explains that Catholic villages began to form around 1830 and had reached 15 villages by about 1866.

〔First Catholic mission chapel in Chungcheong-do〕 The Baeti Shrine website records that in May 1837 Father Mobang (Na Peter) stayed 3–4 days in the Baeti Catholic village together with Father Syaseutang (Jeong James) and administered the sacraments to the faithful, and that thereby the Baeti Catholic village was established as the first Catholic mission chapel in Chungcheong-do. The house of Kim Francis, who was then active as a secret church messenger, was also here, and later Blessed Jang Thomas, from Neunggiji in Suwon, and the family of Blessed Song Benedict, from Chungju, moved to the Baeti Catholic village and lived together. Through the Gihae Persecution (1839) and the Byeongo Persecution (1846) to the Byeongin Persecution (1866), the number of Catholic villages grew further, and the website lists 15 villages whose names appear in records: Baeti, Sambakgol, Eungol, Jeongsamigol, Yongjingol, Jeolgol, Jigumeori, Donggol, Jijanggol, Ballaegi, Tungjeom, Wondong, Saeul, Gulti and Bangchukgol. The Diocese of Cheongju explains that the faithful who gathered here came mainly from the Naepo region, which was the center of the Chungcheong regional Church, with some from Gyeonggi-do and Chungju. The faithful built huts, cleared slash-and-burn fields and ran charcoal kilns to live, and Father Yun Uibyeong (Paul) made this place the main setting of his persecution novel 〈Eunhwa〉 (Baeti Shrine).

〔First seminary of the Joseon Vicariate〕 According to the Baeti Shrine website, Father Dabeullwi (An Antonio) received orders in 1850 from Bishop Pereol, head of the vicariate, to found the “Minor Seminary of the Joseon Vicariate,” and around September of the same year prepared a two-room thatched house in the Baeti Catholic village as the seminary building. This thatched house served as a small church and rectory and also as a dormitory for the seminarians. Father Dabeullwi resided in Baeti until the summer of 1853, after which Father Choe Yang-eop took charge of the seminary, guiding the seminarians and preparing them for study abroad. As a result, in March 1854 3 seminarians (Im Vincentio, Kim John the Apostle and Lee Paulino) left to study at the Penang Seminary in Malaysia. The Baeti seminary later closed and a new seminary was founded in Baeron, Jecheon, but Fathers Choe Yang-eop, PeutiniKolla (Park Michael), Peron (Gwon Stanislaus) and others resided for a long time in the thatched church-cum-rectory.

〔Father Choe Yang-eop and Baeti〕 Father Choe Yang-eop Thomas (1821–1861) was the first seminarian and the second priest of the Korean Catholic Church, and was ordained to the priesthood in Shanghai on April 15, 1849 (Baeti Shrine). After taking charge of the Baeti seminary in the summer of 1853, Father Choe made the Baeti Catholic village his pastoral center and parish for about 3 years, visiting Catholic villages in the five provinces of Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Jeolla, Gyeongsang and Gangwon, and when his visitation ended in 9–October he stayed at the Baeti rectory and devoted himself to writing, composing the Cheonju Gasa, the first Korean prayer book “Gonggwa of Catholic Doctrine,” and the Korean catechism “Questions and Answers on Doctrine.” He died on June 15, 1861 at the age of 40, and his body was moved in early November of the same year to Baeron, Jecheon, where he was buried. The priests based in Baeti after Father Choe were Father Meseuteureu (Lee Joseph) (summer 1856–August 1857), Father Peron (August 1857–September 1858 and October 1861–summer 1864), Father PeutiniKolla (October 1858–early November 1860), and Father Kallae (Gang Nicolaus) (summer 1864–1866), and Bishop Dabeullwi administered Confirmation in Baeti while Father PeutiniKolla was staying here (Baeti Shrine).

〔Byeongin Persecution and martyrs〕 When the Byeongin Persecution broke out, Father Kallae, who was visiting villages in Gyeongsang-do, fled to the neighboring Sambakgol Catholic village (now Yongdeok-ri, Baekgok-myeon), stayed there for about half a month celebrating Mass and administering the sacraments, and then moved to Sohakgol (now Napan-ri, Buk-myeon, Cheonan-si) (Baeti Shrine). The martyrs arrested in the Baeti area during the persecution number 34 on record, of whom 8, including O Ban-ji (Paul) from Jijanggol, Jang Thomas from Baeti and Park Gyeong-jin (Francis) from Jeolgol, and 9, including Lee Seong-rye (Maria), mother of Father Choe Yang-eop, were beatified by Pope Francis on August 16, 2014 (Meaning of the Baeti Shrine). Meanwhile, the Diocese of Cheongju shrine introduction and the Digital Jincheon Culture Encyclopedia state that the Byeongin Persecution (1866) and the Mujin Persecution (1868) temporarily dispersed the Catholic villages around Baeti and that there were over 55 martyrs (29 martyrs from Jincheon and 26 unnamed martyrs’ graves). From around 1870, when the persecution ended, the faithful began to gather again (Diocese of Cheongju).

〔Beatified martyrs〕 According to the shrine materials of the Bishops’ Conference Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization, Blessed Jang Thomas was a collateral relative of degree 6 of Saint Jang Ju-gi Joseph, settled in Baeti, Jincheon to live the faith, and during the Byeongin Persecution was arrested by Cheongju runners, taken to the Jincheon magistrate’s office and then transferred to Cheongju, where he was martyred by beheading at Jangdae, where the military command post stood. Blessed Song Benedict (1798–1867) with his son Song Peter (1821–1867) and Song Peter’s daughter-in-law Blessed Lee Anna (1841–1867) were living the faith in the Baeti Catholic village when in the spring of 1867 they were arrested by runners sent down from Seoul, taken through the Jincheon and Juksan magistrates’ offices to Seoul, and all 5, including Song Peter’s daughter and Lee Anna’s child, were martyred. A family spanning 3 generations thus all lost their lives in the Byeongin Persecution.

〔Tomb of Blessed O Ban-ji Paul〕 The Bishops’ Conference materials record that after O Ban-ji Paul was martyred, his son and several faithful moved the body to Jijanggol and hastily buried it on a nearby hill (now San 109-1, Saseok-ri, Jincheon-eup), that after 151 years, in 2017, the Diocese of Cheongju “Committee for the Reburial of Blessed O Ban-ji Paul” exhumed the remains and enshrined them at Jincheon Church, and that on April 29, the next day, after celebrating a reburial Mass at Baeti Shrine, the remains and grave soil were enshrined in a new tomb (now 815-2, Yangbaek-ri, Baekgok-myeon).

〔After the persecution and development as a shrine〕 After the persecution ended, Baeti was rebuilt as a Catholic village, and in 1888 Father Doucet visited the Baekgok area and established the “Baeti Catholic mission chapel” (Bishops’ Conference materials, Baeti Shrine). In 1893 a catechism school was founded here (Baeti Shrine). Work to develop it as a shrine began in 1977 (Baeti Shrine). The history of the Diocese of Cheongju records that in September 1977 Father Jang Bong-hun produced and distributed shrine publicity materials, in September 1978 the diocesan martyrs’ veneration meeting was held in Baeti, in 1985 Father Park Yong-su Paul installed the “Way of the Cross,” on April 26, 1993 Father Jang Bong-hun took office as the first caretaker, on April 15, 1995 preparatory work for the beatification and canonization of Father Choe Yang-eop Thomas began, on March 1, 1996 the groundbreaking for the church building was held, and on April 15, 1997 the blessing and dedication of Baeti Church was celebrated. The Digital Jincheon Culture Encyclopedia gives the founding date as March 1978 and the start of shrine development as September 1976, so years differ by source, and states that on March 4, 2011 it was designated as Chungcheongbuk-do Monument No. 150, whose designation number was abolished by a Cultural Heritage Administration notice on November 19, 2021 and re-designated as a Chungcheongbuk-do Monument.

Architecture and Space

The Digital Jincheon Culture Encyclopedia states that the shrine contains the church commemorating the 175 anniversary of Father Choe Yang-eop’s birth (recorded as begun on March 1, 1996 and completed on June 15, 1997), the bronze Way of the Cross leading from the church to the outdoor altar, the outdoor altar and a statue of the Virgin Mary, a reconstructed thatched seminary-church-cum-rectory, the Yangeop Spirituality Center and retreat house, the cemetery for 6 unnamed martyrs and the cemetery for 14 unnamed martyrs, and a statue of Father Choe Yang-eop. The cemetery for 6 lies in Seongjaegol, 1.3km by mountain path from the outdoor altar, the cemetery for 14 lies 350m from the cemetery for 6, and the old seminary site lies 500m from the shrine entrance toward Anseong, and in 2007 the Yangeop Exhibition Hall was completed. The Baeti Shrine website states that there are 28 martyrs’ graves near Baeti. The diocesan history gives the blessing and dedication of Baeti Church as April 15, 1997 (Diocese of Cheongju), so dates differ by source.

Related Places and People

• Tomb of Blessed O Ban-ji Paul: located inside Baeti Shrine (Baeti Shrine).
• Sambakgol: the Catholic village where Father Kallae hid during the Byeongin Persecution, with martyrs’ graves (Baeti Shrine, Digital Jincheon Culture Encyclopedia).
• Baeron, Jecheon: where a new seminary was built after the Baeti seminary and where Father Choe Yang-eop is buried (Baeti Shrine).
• Sohakgol (Napan-ri, Buk-myeon, Cheonan-si): where Father Kallae moved after leaving Sambakgol (Baeti Shrine).

References and Sources

1. Baeti Shrine website, “Shrine Introduction”. Place name of Baeti, formation of Catholic villages and establishment of the Catholic mission chapel in 1837, seminary in 1850, Father Choe Yang-eop and resident priests, 34 martyrs, re-establishment of the Catholic mission chapel in 1888 and catechism school in 1893.
   https://www.baeti.org/holyland/introduce
2. Baeti Shrine website, “Meaning of the Shrine”. 15 Catholic villages, seminarians’ study abroad (1854), writings and death of Father Choe Yang-eop, beatification of 9 martyred Blesseds (2014.8.16), 28 martyrs’ graves.
   https://www.baeti.org/holyland/meaning
3. Digital Jincheon Culture Encyclopedia, “Jincheon Baeti Shrine”. Two theories of the place-name origin, 15 Catholic villages, shrine development and church construction (1996–97), designation as Chungcheongbuk-do Monument (2011) and re-designation (2021).
   https://jincheon.grandculture.net/jincheon/toc/GC02701809
4. Catholic Diocese of Cheongju, “Baeti Martyrs’ Shrine”. Formation of Catholic villages, over 55 martyrs, shrine history (1977–1997).
   https://www.cdcj.or.kr/parish/holyland/14
5. Bishops’ Conference Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization, “Related shrine: Baeti Shrine”. Martyrdom of Blessed Jang Thomas and the Blessed Song Benedict family, establishment of the Baeti Catholic mission chapel in 1888, reburial of Blessed O Ban-ji Paul (2017).
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/31