Chimyeongjasan Sanctuary

Overview

Chimyeongjasan Shrine is a shrine of the Jeonju Diocese on Seungamsan in Daeseong-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju, Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province, and it holds the joint burial tomb of Augustine Yu Hang-geom, the ‘Apostle of Honam,’ who was martyred during the Sinyu Persecution (1801), together with 7 members of his family. John Yu Jung-cheol and Rugarda Yi Sun-i, known as the virgin married couple, are enshrined together, and the martyrs’ tomb is Jeollabuk-do Monument No. 68.

History

[From Seungamsan to Chimyeongjasan] The shrine’s official homepage states that this place was long called Seungamsan (Jungbawisan) and that, after Catholic martyrs were buried on its summit, it has more often been called ‘Chimyeongjasan’ or ‘Rugardasan.’ Good News explains that this place, originally called Seungamsan, came to be called Chimyeongjasan or Rugardasan after Catholic martyrs were buried there in 1914.

[The faith of Yu Hang-geom and his family] According to the brief biography on the shrine homepage, Augustine Yu Hang-geom, born in 1756 into a yangban family in Chonam, Jeonju (now Namgye-ri, Iseo-myeon, Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk), learned the doctrine and entered the Church immediately after the Korean Catholic Church was founded in 1784, becoming the first believer in the Jeolla region, and he shared the doctrine with his family and relatives to form a faith community. His sons Yu Jung-cheol and Yu Mun-seok learned the doctrine from their relative Ilsin Kwon, who lived in Yanggeun, Gyeonggi, entered the Church, and grew up in the faith. His daughter-in-law Rugarda Yi Sun-i was born in 1782 into a yangban family in Hanyang, and her father Yi Yun-ha was the maternal grandson of the scholar Yi Ik. After her marriage she went to Chonam, her husband’s hometown, and before her parents-in-law she vowed with her husband Yu Jung-cheol to keep virginity and live together like brother and sister.

[The Sinyu Persecution and martyrdom (1801–1802)] When the Sinyu Persecution broke out, Yu Hang-geom was singled out as the head of the Jeolla Church, arrested first, and taken to Hanyang, and although questioned at the Podocheong, the Hyeongjo, and the Uigeumbu, he did not betray the believers. The persecutors applied the charge of rebellion to him, and he was transferred to Jeonju and martyred by dismemberment outside the South Gate on October 24, 1801 (lunar September 17) (then aged 45). Then his eldest son Yu Jung-cheol and second son Yu Mun-seok were martyred in Jeonju Prison, and his wife Sin Hui, his sister-in-law Yi Yuk-hui, his daughter-in-law Yi Sun-i, and his nephew Yu Jung-seong were martyred at Supjeongi. The shrine homepage states that from September they were executed over about 4 months outside the South Gate of Jeonju (now Jeondong Church), at Jeonju Prison, and at Supjeongi, and that the household’s young children were exiled (the shrine chronology records the eldest daughter Yu Seom-i, aged 9, to Geojedo; her son Yu Il-seok, aged 6, to Heuksando; and Yu Il-mun, aged 3, to Sinjido). In prison Yi Sun-i sent a letter to her sisters urging the family imprisoned with her to accept martyrdom. Bishop Daveluy later wrote of the later conjecture that Yu Hang-geom had apostatized: “Since most people deny that Yu Hang-geom apostatized, I believe he will receive the martyr’s palm before God together with the other martyrs.”

[Transfer of the remains (1914)] The court sentenced Yu Hang-geom’s family to destruction of house and property (破家瀦宅), and surviving servants and relatives secretly recovered the bodies but could not bury them on their native land in Chonam and buried them temporarily (Good News gives Jaenam-ri, Gimje-gun; the shrine homepage gives Bawibaegi at Jaenam-ri across the fields; and the shrine chronology gives Bawubaegi at Jenam-ri, Yongji-myeon, Gimje-gun). On April 19, 1914, Father Baudounet of Jeondong Church and the faithful moved the remains to this summit and buried them together, and the shrine homepage states that the history of Chimyeongjasan Shrine began at that time. The intention in enshrining them on the summit was to honor the chaste faith, virtue, and martyrdom of the virgin married martyrs and to pray that the martyrs would protect Jeonju.

[Development of the shrine (1949–1997)] According to the shrine chronology, on July 17, 1949 a martyrs’ monument donated by the Jeondong Parish mothers’ association was erected and unveiled with Bishop Hyun Bae Kim officiating. In the 1980s, development of the shrine was promoted as part of the Jeonju Diocese’s commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Catholic Church, and on January 9, 1988 5 martyrs of the Jeonju Diocese (Ji-chung Yun, Sang-yeon Kwon, Hang-geom Yu, Jung-cheol Yu, and Sun-i Yi) were selected as candidates for beatification and canonization, and on March 5 the groundbreaking ceremony for the development of Chimyeongjasan was held. On March 31, 1991 the natural rock cliff ‘Jesus-Mary Rock’ was discovered, and on November 29, 1993 the remains were confirmed by excavation of the martyrs’ tomb and reburied (the shrine chronology states under the supervision of Father Jinso Kim). On May 9, 1994 the consecration of the Chimyeongjasan Memorial Church and the celebration in honor of the martyrs were held with Cardinal Su-hwan Kim officiating. On February 3, 1997 the first full-time shrine priest, John Baptist Kim Bong-hui, took office and led daily Mass, the Stations of the Cross, the creation of Montmartre Plaza and Yoan-Rugarda Plaza, and the purchase of land, and he died on April 18, 2012.

[Cultural heritage designation] The martyrs’ tomb on Chimyeongjasan is Jeollabuk-do Monument No. 68. The pilgrimage guide gives the designation date as September 20, 1984 and the shrine chronology as October 22, 1984, differing from each other.

[Beatification and recent projects (2001–2021)] On September 16, 2001 13,000 people attended the 1th Yoan-Rugarda Festival commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Sinyu Persecution martyrs. At the beatification celebrated by Pope Francis at Gwanghwamun Square on August 16, 2014, 5 of the 7 martyrs enshrined at Chimyeongjasan — Yu Hang-geom, Yu Jung-cheol, Yi Sun-i, Yu Mun-seok, and Yu Jung-seong — were raised to the blessed. On May 1, 2016 the proclamation of the Door of Mercy and a plenary-indulgence pilgrimage site took place at the mountaintop Memorial Church, and on October 5, 2016 the martyrs Sin Hui and Yi Yuk-hui were confirmed as included in ‘Servant of God John Baptist Yi Byeok and companions 132.’ On September 13, 2017 the Fatima grotto was blessed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima (with Bishop Seon-tae Kim officiating), and on January 22, 2019 the tomb soil of the eldest daughter of Blessed Yu Hang-geom, Yu Seom-i, was combined. In October 2015 the World Peace Hall construction project was confirmed as a state-subsidized project (total project cost 280 hundred million won), ground was broken on September 17, 2019, and it opened on October 16, 2021.

Architecture and Grounds

Immediately below the martyrs’ tomb stands the Memorial Church erected on May 9, 1994; below it to the left lies the Stations of the Cross, climbed while meditating on the Passion and death of Jesus, and to the right lies the cemetery for priests of the Jeonju Diocese (shrine homepage). Diocesan materials state that Chimyeongjasan has the Fatima grotto, the Yoan-Rugarda Stations of the Cross, the Memorial Church and memorial hall built in 1994, and the clergy cemetery. At Yoan-Rugarda Plaza below the mountain stand the Peace Hall completed in 2021, the Pilgrim Church, the Onggi-kiln chapel, and the prayer forest, and the Peace Hall is operated as a retreat center and combined cultural space and also provides private retreats and pilgrim lodging. The shrine homepage calls this mountain ‘Korea’s Montmartre (Mount of Martyrs).’

Related Places and Figures

• Jeondong Church: the church standing on the site outside the South Gate of Jeonju where Yu Hang-geom was martyred and where Yun Ji-chung and Kwon Sang-yeon were martyred in the Jinsan Incident (1791); it is Historic Site No. 288 in Romanesque style, and its rectory is Jeollabuk-do Cultural Heritage Material No. 178 (shrine pilgrimage guide).
• Jeonju Prison martyrdom site: the place where Yu Jung-cheol and Yu Mun-seok were strangled in prison during the Sinyu Persecution (the shrine pilgrimage guide gives October 9 of that year).
• Supjeongi Shrine: the place where some of Yu Hang-geom’s family (Sin Hui, Yi Yuk-hui, Yi Sun-i, and Yu Jung-seong) were martyred during the Sinyu Persecution; it is provincially designated Monument No. 71 (shrine pilgrimage guide).
• Chorokbawi and Seocheongyo martyrdom sites: places associated with the Byeongin martyrs Nam Myeong-hui and Jo Yun-ho, included in the Chimyeongja-gil walking pilgrimage course (shrine pilgrimage guide).
• Chimyeongja-gil walking pilgrimage: a 7.1km course from Chimyeongjasan Shrine through the Jeonju Prison martyrdom site, Jeondong Church and Pungnam Gate, Chorokbawi, and Seocheongyo to Supjeongi Shrine (shrine pilgrimage guide).

References and Sources

1. Catholic Good News, Shrines and Historic Sites, “Chimyeongjasan Shrine” (Jeonju Diocese). Joint burial of 7 martyrs, transfer in 1914, consecration of the Memorial Church in 1994, beatification in 2014, Jeollabuk-do Monument No. 68.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2365
2. Official homepage of Chimyeongjasan Shrine, shrine introduction. How Seungamsan came to be called Chimyeongjasan, 7 martyrs and beatification of 5, transfer in 1914, Memorial Church erected on May 9, 1994.
   https://www.shalom-house.com/user/holyland/intro
3. Official homepage of Chimyeongjasan Shrine, shrine chronology (1801–2021). Martyrdom chronicle and exiled children, monument in 1949, shrine development in 1988–1997, projects after 2014 and the World Peace Hall.
   https://www.shalom-house.com/user/holyland/history
4. Official homepage of Chimyeongjasan Shrine, pilgrimage guide. Designation as Jeollabuk-do Monument No. 68, pilgrimage sites in Jeonju such as Jeondong Church, Jeonju Prison, and Supjeongi, and the Chimyeongja-gil course.
   https://www.shalom-house.com/user/holyland/pilgrimageguide
5. Official homepage of Chimyeongjasan Shrine, brief biography of the martyr Augustine Yu Hang-geom. Life and martyrdom.
   https://www.shalom-house.com/user/holyland/martyr/hanggum
6. Official homepage of Chimyeongjasan Shrine, brief biography of the martyr Rugarda Yi Sun-i. Life and prison letter.
   https://www.shalom-house.com/user/holyland/martyr/soonyi
7. Jeonju Diocese, shrine guide “Chimyeongjasan Shrine.” Transfer in 1914 and shrine facilities including the Memorial Church, Fatima grotto, Stations of the Cross, and Peace Hall.
   https://www.jcatholic.or.kr/theme/main/pages/terrasanta01.php