Pocheon Martyrs' Shrine

Overview

Pocheon Martyrs’ Shrine is the site of the martyrdom of Blessed Hong In Leo, proclaimed for the first time as a diocesan martyrs’ shrine by the Catholic Diocese of Chuncheon on September 27, 2014. It is managed by Pocheon church, and a monument honoring the martyrdom stands there.

History

The Pocheon area is where Blessed Hong Gyoman Francis Xavier and his son Hong In Leo were martyred during the 1801 Sinyu Persecution, and its roots of faith are deep. Hong In was born in Pocheon, and according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, his family was originally a well-known family in Hanyang, and his father Hong Gyoman moved to Pocheon, where Hong In grew up. Hong Gyoman learned doctrine from his distant cousin Kwon Il-sin, who lived in Yanggeun, in 1781 and came to know the Catholic faith.

Hong In learned doctrine from his father but accepted the Catholic faith as the truth even before his father did, and he persuaded his father so that together they visited Father Ju Mun-mo after his entry into the country, received baptism, and attended Mass. On the timing and order of their conversion, Chuncheon Diocese materials introduce two accounts: that Hong In urged his father to convert, and that Hong Gyoman first encountered Catholicism and Hong In was influenced by him. Chuncheon Diocese materials state that they were baptized by Father Ju Mun-mo in 1794.

In the 1801 Sinyu Persecution, father and son were arrested together, but under the principle of not executing father and son together, Hong In was transferred to Pocheon. Hong Gyoman was martyred with his companions on April 8, 1801 at the crossroads outside Seosomun, and Hong In was martyred about 10 months later, on January 30, 1802, on the busy marketplace street in Pocheon.

On August 16, 2014, at Gwanghwamun Square, Pope Francis raised Hong Gyoman and Hong In, father and son, to the rank of the blessed. On that occasion, at the thanksgiving celebration honoring the martyrs held on September 27 of the same year at the Pocheon Indoor Gymnasium, the Diocese of Chuncheon proclaimed as a martyrs’ shrine the martyrdom site where Blessed Hong In Leo was martyred (Gueup-ri, Gunnae-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do 723-3). This was the first place proclaimed as a martyrs’ shrine in the Diocese of Chuncheon.

Pocheon church secured land on the Hanaecheon riverside, the martyrdom site, and in September 2015 built a monument honoring the martyrdom to mark the 1 anniversary of the proclamation of the martyrs’ shrine and held a blessing ceremony. In 2019, it established a 3-year plan for developing the Pocheon Martyrs’ Shrine and began work to make it a sacred site. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that the plan is to develop about 3 thousand pyeong of church land into a wall-less ‘martyrdom memorial park’ and build a new education center by 2021, and to convert the old Pocheon church, whose roof was replaced and windows repaired in 2017, into a martyrdom memorial hall.

Architecture and site

According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the Pocheonhyeon government office site and prison site where Blessed Hong In Leo witnessed to the faith (Gueup-ri, Gunnae-myeon, Pocheon-si 530-4) were on land next to the former Gunnae-myeon office, but the traces of the former office site disappeared when the Gunnae-myeon office built a new office building. The martyrdom site is the sandy riverside of the Hanaecheon on the marketplace street near Pocheon 2 Bridge, which connects the present Pocheon Police Station and fire station.

The old church of Pocheon church (St. Gabriel Church), which manages the shrine, was built in 1955 by General Yi Han-rim Gabriel, commander of the 6 Corps, on a hill at the foot of Mount Wangbang with granite brought from nearby Deokjeong-ri, and was dedicated in December of the same year by Bishop Quinlan, Vicar Apostolic of Chuncheon. The Digital Pocheon Culture Encyclopedia records the style of this church as stone Gothic and its total floor area as a 1-story, 1-building structure of 189.98 square meters. It features a rectangular plan with Gothic elements, a bell tower in the center of the facade, pointed-arch windows in granite masonry, thick walls, and buttresses.

On July 11, 1990, the old Pocheon church was set on fire by an intoxicated person, leaving only its frame after the wooden floor and roof structure burned, but it was preserved rather than demolished even after the new church was dedicated in December 1992. As the only remaining religious building built directly by a military unit among stone church buildings erected after the Korean War, it was designated on September 19, 2006 as Registered Cultural Heritage No. 271 of modern cultural heritage. By a notice of the Cultural Heritage Administration on November 19, 2021, the heritage designation number was abolished and it was re-designated as a National Registered Cultural Heritage, and with the enforcement of the Framework Act on National Heritage on May 17, 2024, it was changed to a National Registered Cultural Heritage (Digital Pocheon Culture Encyclopedia).

Religious significance and visiting context

Chuncheon Diocese materials state that Hong In and Hong Gyoman, father and son, devoted themselves to living the faith and spreading the Gospel, widely spreading the faith in the Pocheon area. Pocheon church held a commemorative event on May 1, 2006 for the 50 anniversary of the establishment of the parish in order to carry on the martyrdom spirit of Hong Gyoman Francis Xavier and Hong In Leo, father and son (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

Related places and people

• Pocheon Church: a parish dedicated on December 10, 1955 and established on February 21, 1956. Its first pastor was Father Kim Jin-ha (John), and in December 1969 it was transferred from the Archdiocese of Seoul to the Diocese of Chuncheon. After the fire in 1990, a new church was dedicated on December 10, 1992.
• Blessed Hong Gyoman Francis Xavier (1738–1801) and Blessed Hong In Leo (1758–1802): the father-and-son martyrs of Pocheon (Witnesses of Faith of the Diocese of Chuncheon).
• Hwahyeon Yi Byeok Shrine: a shrine of the Diocese of Chuncheon in the same city of Pocheon.

References and sources

1. Catholic Diocese of Chuncheon, Pocheon Martyrs’ Shrine. Confirmed the proclamation date of the martyrs’ shrine (September 27, 2014), the martyrdoms of Hong In and Hong Gyoman, and the two accounts of the order of their conversion.
   https://www.cccatholic.or.kr/parish/holyland/15
2. Good News (Archdiocese of Seoul), Pocheon Martyrs’ Shrine of the Diocese of Chuncheon (martyrdom site of Blessed Hong In Leo, Pocheon Church). As content included in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, confirmed the history of Pocheon parish, the construction and fire of the old church, the martyrdom site and development of the shrine, and the heritage designation.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2850&menugubun=holyplace
3. Digital Pocheon Culture Encyclopedia, Former Pocheon Church. Confirmed the construction and dedication dates, the fire, the history of heritage designation and changes, and the architectural style and size.
   http://www.grandculture.net/pocheon/toc/GC05000716
4. Catholic Diocese of Chuncheon, Witnesses of Faith. Confirmed the birth and death years, baptism, and martyrdom of Hong Gyoman and Hong In.
   https://www.cccatholic.or.kr/diocese/history/witness