Blessed Martyr Park Dae-sik Victorino's Tomb

Overview

The Tomb of Blessed Martyr Park Dae-sik Victorino is a holy site of the Masan Diocese located at the foot of Chaekgol in Cheongcheon-ri, Jillye-myeon, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, where in the Mujin Persecution of 1868, Blessed Park Dae-sik Victorino (1812–1868) was martyred by beheading at Gwandeokjeong in Daegu. The Masan Diocese introduces this grave as a tomb that has never been relocated since the martyrdom, and the parish that manages the cemetery is Jillye Church.

History

Park Dae-sik (朴大植) Victorino was born in 1812 into a wealthy family in Yedong, Gimhae, Gyeongsang-do, now Sirye-ri, Jillye-myeon, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do. According to the Masan Diocese guide, he had three sons, Jong-rip, Jong-ban and Jong-cheol, and while it is not known when he first came to believe, after entering the Church he diligently lived the faith together with his father Park Man-hyeok and his brothers Dae-bung and Dae-heung, when he encountered the Byeongin Persecution. Fortunately at that time the whole family went into hiding and was not arrested.

In the Mujin Persecution of 1868, runners sent down from Daegu and runners from Gimhae rushed to his house and arrested Park Dae-sik and his nephew Park Su-yeon, who was a catechumen, and transferred them to the Gimhae government office, according to the Bishops’ Conference brief biography. The Masan Diocese guide records that this arrest took place on July 7, 1868, and that his elder brother Park Dae-hong and his nephew Park Su-yeon, aged 47, were arrested together. Good News reports that Park Dae-sik was transferred together with his nephew Park Su-yeon.

In the prison of the Gimhae government office, Park Dae-sik met Song Matteo and Park Joseph as companions. With one accord they confessed the faith, and after three days of interrogation they were transferred to Daegu. In Daegu they again underwent interrogation and punishment, but to the end they refused to apostatize and bore witness to the faith, according to the Bishops’ Conference brief biography. The Masan Diocese guide and Good News report that at the provincial office they suffered severe torture so that bones were broken and bodies were twisted, and when family members came to visit, they covered their bodies with clothes so as not to show their dreadful condition.

The governor of Daegu judged that Park Dae-sik and his companions could not be made to apostatize and sentenced them to death. Park Dae-sik was dragged to the execution ground together with his nephew and 2 companions and was beheaded; the date was on October 12, 1868, lunar August 27, and his age was 56, according to the Bishops’ Conference brief biography. The Masan Diocese guide records the place of martyrdom as Gwandeokjeong in Daegu. After the beheading, the governor had their heads hung high in order to warn the people.

Hearing the news of the martyrdom, the family members came to Daegu, recovered the bodies and buried them in their hometown, according to the Bishops’ Conference brief biography. According to the Masan Diocese guide, the family paid money to the runners and brought the bodies to bury them in the family burial ground, but villagers and outsiders of the family opposed it, so they could not achieve their wish. Therefore the son and relatives buried him in a flat burial without a mound on the Yu clan’s mountain at Dadong, now Chaekgol in Cheongcheon-ri, Jillye-myeon, Gimhae-si, in a place called the mountain of the Yu family. The Bishops’ Conference shrine guide introduces this place as the Yu clan’s mountain at Chaetgol, Chagol, 茶谷, behind the village.

More than 90 years later, in the spring of 1956, descendants enlarged the mound of the grave and also relocated the martyr’s wife’s tomb to place it side by side with his, tending it as a complete cemetery. On April 15, 1966, through the arrangement of Father Yu Chang-ho Thomas, then pastor of Jinyeong Parish, a tombstone was erected in front of the grave. Until then the martyr’s baptismal name was not properly known, so temporarily the baptismal name Norenjo, Laurentius, was engraved, and the Bishops’ Conference guide introduces that the stone reads 殉敎 密陽朴公大植 Norenjo. In August 2001, through the efforts of Church historian Ma Baek-rak Clemens and the martyr’s 4th-generation descendant Park Yeong-sik Joachim, it was revealed that the baptismal name was Victorino, restoring the original baptismal name, according to the Masan Diocese guide.

Park Dae-sik Victorino was beatified by Pope Francis on August 16, 2014, in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. The Masan Diocese guide introduces this grave as a tomb that has never been relocated since the burial of the body, explaining that it is a holy site of historical value as a rare case in the history of the Catholic Church in Korea.

Architecture and Space

According to the Masan Diocese guide, the graves of the martyr and his wife appear below the left side of the Gimhae Tunnel on the Namhae Expressway, just before the now-closed Jinyeong Tunnel, when entering the mountain path following the signboard. Good News explains that one parks near the closed Jinyeong Tunnel and climbs the mountain path to the left following the signboard for about 10 minutes to reach the grave. The shrine visit stamp is at the cemetery, and the Masan Diocese recommends wearing hiking boots.

Significance for Faith and Visiting Context

Good News introduces this holy site with the phrase lying in a flat burial on another clan’s mountain, unable even in death to be buried on the ancestral hill. The Masan Diocese guide states that Jillye Parish, which manages the cemetery, offers Mass every year at the grave together with the martyr’s descendants to commemorate the martyr, and that the diocese is promoting a long-term project to develop the sacred precinct. The guide explains that in western Gyeongsangnam-do, where the Masan Diocese is located, believers appeared latest, and that no martyrs came from this region during the Sinyu Persecution of 1801 and the Gihae Persecution of 1839, and records that there were large Catholic villages in Munsan, Haman-Daesan, Goseong, Tongyeong-Hwang-ri, Jinyeong and Geojedo.

Related Places and Persons

• Gwandeokjeong in Daegu: the execution ground where Park Dae-sik was martyred by beheading together with his nephew and 2 companions, according to the Masan Diocese guide.
• Park Su-yeon: Park Dae-sik’s nephew, then a catechumen, who was transferred together with Park Dae-sik and martyred.
• Song Matteo and Park Joseph: companions who were imprisoned in the same cell with Park Dae-sik in the prison of the Gimhae government office and transferred together to Daegu.
• Father Yu Chang-ho Thomas: the priest who, as pastor of Jinyeong Parish in 1966, arranged the erection of the tombstone in front of the martyr’s grave.
• Jillye Church: the parish that manages the cemetery and offers a memorial Mass every year together with descendants.

References and Sources

1. Masan Diocese, Blessed Park Dae-sik Victorino. Family background, arrest and martyrdom, burial and changes of the grave, confirmation of the baptismal name, directions, and background of the local introduction of the faith were confirmed.
   https://cathms.kr/F_4
2. Good News Catholic Shrines, Shrines and Historic Sites: Tomb of Blessed Park Dae-sik Victorino. The summary introduction of the shrine, its location, and the memorial Mass of Jillye Church were confirmed.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2259
3. Beatification and Canonization Committee of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, Brief Biographies of 124 Blesseds: Park Dae-sik Victorino. Arrest and transfer, interrogation, date of martyrdom and age, and burial of the bodies were confirmed.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/124-Martyrs/123
4. Beatification and Canonization Committee of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, Related Shrines: Grave of Blessed Park Dae-sik Victorino. Location of the grave and changes of 1956 and 1966, inscription of the tombstone, and the responsible institution were confirmed.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/22