Hwangmuisil Shrine

Overview

Hwangmusil Shrine is a shrine of the Diocese of Daejeon in Hapdeok-eup, Dangjin-si, Chungcheongnam-do, on the site of the former Hwangmusil Catholic village where a faith community survived from before the Shinhae Persecution in 1791 until the Mujin Persecution in 1868. It was a center of the Naepo Church where missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society resided and ministered, and it began to be developed as a shrine on the occasion of the beatification in 2014 of Francis Yi Bo-hyeon, a native of this place.

History

[Formation of the Catholic village] The Diocese of Daejeon introduces Hwangmusil as an old Catholic village inhabited by believers since around 1785, the early period when the Gospel was first preached in the Naepo region of Chungcheong-do. Yu Gun-myeong (Simeon), known as an early believer, is said to have freed his slaves after entering the Church and to have realized equality in God from an early time. Good News describes Hwangmusil as a Catholic village in a low hilly area on the border between Dangjin-si and Yesan-gun.

[Activities of the missionaries] According to the Diocese of Daejeon, the Hwangmusil Catholic village, home to more than 100 believers, was a refuge for French missionaries who worked in hiding during the persecutions, and for this reason the Yeonghaehoe work, also called Seongyeonghoe and introduced from France, began early here and adopted orphans as family. Good News records that Hwangmusil, together with the Sinri Catholic village, was a center of the Naepo Church where missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society resided and ministered.

[Fathers Maistre and Landre] Father Maistre (Maistre) and Father Landre (Landre) died of illness in 1857 and 1863 respectively and were buried in Hwangmusil (Diocese of Daejeon). According to the shrine commentary of Singwan-dong Church, Father Maistre (1808~1857) entered the country in August 1852, and when Bishop Ferreol died in 1853, served as temporary vicar general until Bishop Berneux arrived in 1856, and after Bishop Berneux arrived took charge of the area from the Chungcheong-do coast to Gyeongsang-do, then collapsed from overwork on December 20, 1857 and was buried on the hill behind Hwangmusil. The same commentary records that he was the teacher of the seminarians Kim Dae-geon, Choe Yang-eop and Choe Bang-je, and opened Saint Joseph Seminary in Baeron, Jecheon in 1855. Father Landre (1828~1863), who entered the country in 1861, took charge of the lower Naepo region and worked from his pastoral base in Hwangmusil, then died on September 15, 1863 and was buried there.

[Father Huin] According to the Singwan-dong Church commentary, Father Huin (Huin), dispatched to Joseon in 1865, stayed in Naepo, learned Korean from Bishop Daveluy, and made Hwangmusil his base for evangelization. As evidence, his letters of October 19, 1865 (2 Tong), October 29, and December 12 are cited as having been written in Hwangmusil. When Bishop Daveluy was arrested on March 11, 1866, Father Huin surrendered himself and was transferred, and on March 30 received beheading under military order at Galmaemot.

[The Byeongin Persecution and martyrs] According to Good News, the Hwangmusil Catholic village was thoroughly destroyed in the Byeongin Persecution, producing more than 70 martyrs together with those from neighboring Myeoncheon, but it was gradually buried in history. The Singwan-dong Church commentary lists as known martyrs from Hwangmusil Antonio Song, hanged in Gongju in the Byeongin year (1866), Peter Shin (85 years old) and Augustine Shin (23 years old) martyred in Haemi in the Byeongin year, Andrew Pyo (36 years old) martyred in Haemi in the Jeongmyo year (1867), Maria Bang (35 years old) buried alive in Haemi on May 30 in the Mujin year (1868) and her mother-in-law Barbara Bak (74 years old), and Jo Gun-seo martyred in Gongju in the same year. The same commentary notes that apart from 9 persons including Antonio Song, no martyrs remain in the records and they rest as unknown martyrs in the fields of Naepo. The Diocese of Daejeon explains that the Hwangmusil Catholic village collapsed in the Byeongin Persecution in 1866 and never recovered.

[Francis Yi Bo-hyeon] Yi Bo-hyeon (Francis), recorded as the first martyr of Hwangmusil, was martyred in Haemi on January 9, 1800 (Diocese of Daejeon), and was raised to the blessed on August 16, 2014 by Pope Francis. According to the Singwan-dong Church commentary, Yi Bo-hyeon (1773~1800) was born into a wealthy yangin family in Hwangmusil, Deoksan, Chungcheong-do, now Hoeum-ri, Godeok-myeon, Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, lost his father in childhood, and entered the Church after learning the catechism from Thomas Hwang Sim, who lived near his hometown. Hwang Sim was a secret messenger of the Church who traveled to and from Beijing, and his wife was Yi Bo-hyeon’s sister. The same commentary states that Yi Bo-hyeon once hosted Father Ju Mun-mo in his house, and that he was arrested in Yeonsan in the Jeongsa Persecution in 1797 and transferred to Haemi.

[Relocation of the graves and development of the shrine] According to Good News, believers of Sinhapdeok Church regarded the graves of Fathers Maistre and Landre, who died while ministering in Hwangmusil, as their ancestors’ hometown like Solmoe Shrine, frequently made pilgrimages there, and cared for the graves. On April 30, 1970, when the two priests’ graves were moved to Hapdeok Church, Hwangmusil became an unattended martyrdom site. The Diocese of Daejeon records that the two priests’ graves were moved again in 2003 to the Diocese of Daejeon clergy cemetery on the campus of Daejeon Catholic University. On the occasion of the beatification of Francis Yi Bo-hyeon on August 16, 2014, Sinhapdeok Parish purchased the former Hwangmusil Catholic village site, erected a monument honoring the martyrs, and began full-scale shrine development, and in November of the same year celebrated the blessing Mass for Hwangmusil Shrine and the martyrs’ monument presided over by diocesan Bishop Yu Heung-sik (Good News).

Related places and people

• Haemi Martyrs International Shrine: the place where Francis Yi Bo-hyeon and the martyrs from Hwangmusil were martyred (Diocese of Daejeon, Singwan-dong Church).
• Sinhapdeok Church: the parish that purchased the former Hwangmusil Catholic village site and began full-scale shrine development (Good News).
• Sinri Shrine: together with Hwangmusil, it was a center of the Naepo Church where the missionaries ministered (Good News).
• Diocese of Daejeon clergy cemetery on the campus of Daejeon Catholic University: the place to which the graves of Fathers Maistre and Landre were moved in 2003 (Diocese of Daejeon).

References and sources

1. Diocese of Daejeon, introduction to Hwangmusil Shrine. Formation of the Catholic village around 1785, Yeonghaehoe, deaths of the two priests and relocation of their graves (1970, 2003), beatification of Yi Bo-hyeon.
   https://www.djcatholic.or.kr/home/pages/re_shrine_view.php?ids=shrine19
2. Catholic Good News shrines and historic sites, “Hwangmusil Shrine” (Diocese of Daejeon). Period of the Catholic village, more than 70 martyrs in the Byeongin Persecution, relocation in 1970, shrine development and blessing Mass in 2014.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=4340
3. Singwan-dong Church shrine commentary, “Hwangmusil Catholic Village”. Activities of Fathers Maistre, Landre and Huin, martyrs from Hwangmusil, brief life of Francis Yi Bo-hyeon.
   https://www.skcatholic.or.kr/holy/79725