Baenaedri Shrine

Overview

Baenadeuri Shrine is a martyrdom historic site of the Daejeon Diocese located in the Yongdong-ri area of Sapgyo-eup, Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, encompassing the Baenadeuri Catholic village, where believers were arrested by Haemi constables in 1817 and some were martyred in prison, together with the historic site of Yongdong-ri, the hometown of Blessed Martin In Eon-min. Good News introduces it as an island-like village on the Sapgyo Stream.

History

[Place name and Catholic village] Good News explains that Baenadeuri was an island-like village on the Sapgyo Stream southeast of Sapgyo-eup, Yesan-gun, also called Dori, and that it was named “Baenadeuri” because when floods came the surroundings were covered with water and people crossed by boat. Although it is close to Sapgyo, only 1.3km away, when the Sapgyo Stream swelled it could be entered and left only by boat, so it is presumed to have been a suitable village for keeping the faith in secret. Material from Singwan-dong Church also records that it was a Catholic village formed by believers who had gathered while fleeing persecution.

[Arrests and martyrdom in 1817] Both sources record that in 1817 (October by the lunar calendar according to Singwan-dong Church material) Haemi constables appeared in Baenadeuri and arrested believers. According to Singwan-dong Church material, about 20 to 30 believers were taken to Haemi, and most apostatized and were released, but Peter Min Cheomji and his sister-in-law Anna, Joseph Song Cheomji, Joseph Son Yeon-uk, Min Suk-gan, and others kept the faith despite severe punishments and were martyred in prison. Son Yeon-uk’s father, Son Yeo-sim, was long confined in the Haemi jail and died of illness 10 years later, in 1827. Afterward the Baenadeuri Catholic village disappeared.

[Accounts of the martyrs] Singwan-dong Church material records that, as this persecution was not an official persecution, the accounts of the martyrs are not clearly known. However, judging from the fact that Min Cheomji was from Gyeolseong and had lived in Sohakgol in Mokcheon before moving to Baenadeuri, and that Son Yeon-uk was from Hongju, it is presumed that Baenadeuri was a Catholic village formed by believers who had gathered while fleeing persecution. The same material records that Joseph Son Yeon-uk (?–1824) married Teresa Kim, daughter of Andrew Kim Jong-han, in 1811, and that in October 1817 he was arrested in Baenadari in Deoksan (present-day Yongdong-ri, Sapgyo-eup, Yesan-gun) together with about 30 fellow villagers, and, though tortured at the Haemi garrison, kept the faith. It is said that Son Yeo-sim was arrested three days after his son was seized and spent about 10 years in prison.

[Historic site of Martin In Eon-min] Good News explains that the historic site of the martyr Blessed Martin In Eon-min is in Yongdong 2-ri (also called Haryong Village) near Baenadeuri. This place was originally the site of the hall of the Jurye Catholic mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Yesan Parish, and when Sapgyo Parish was separated from Yesan Parish in 1967 and the mission chapel was closed and the hall demolished, it was developed as a historic site commemorating Martin In Eon-min, who had been arrested in Gongju and martyred in Haemi. Yongdong-ri is the hometown of Martin In Eon-min, and on August 16, 2014, he was beatified by Pope Francis in Gwanghwamun Square.

Architecture and Space

Good News explains that at the Baenadeuri historic site there is a stone engraved with the words “Glory to the Martyrs” and a monument to the martyr Martin In Eon-min, and that in the middle of a garden laid out in the shape of a cross there is an outdoor altar made of massive natural stone.

Related Places and People

• Sapgyo Church: It is the parish to which the shrine’s Mass schedule belongs, and it was separated from Yesan Parish in 1967 (Good News).
• Haemi garrison: It is the place where the believers arrested in 1817 were taken and suffered imprisonment (Singwan-dong Church).
• Sohakgol in Mokcheon: It is where Min Cheomji lived before moving to Baenadeuri (Singwan-dong Church).

References and Sources

1. Catholic Good News, Shrines and Historic Sites, “Baenadeuri” (Daejeon Diocese). Origin of the place name, the persecution and martyrs in 1817, the historic site of Martin In Eon-min and the separation of Sapgyo Parish in 1967, monuments and outdoor altar.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2836
2. Singwan-dong Church, “Sapgyo Baenadeuri Catholic Village.” Scale of the arrests in October 1817, list of martyrs, accounts of Son Yeon-uk and Son Yeo-sim, disappearance of the Catholic village.
   https://www.skcatholic.or.kr/holy/79839