Waegogae Shrine

Overview

Waegogae Shrine is a Catholic shrine in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where the Military Diocese curia and its cathedral, the Armed Forces Central Cathedral, now stand. It is a historic Church site where seven people martyred at Saenamteo during the Byeongin Persecution were buried for 33 years and two people martyred at the intersection outside Seosomun for 43 years, and where, according to tradition, the body of Fr. Andrew Kim Dae-geon, martyred during the Byeong-o Persecution, was interred before being transferred to Mirinae.

History

Waegogae was called Wahyeon (瓦峴) or Waseohyeon (瓦署峴) in Chinese characters. The place name derives from the Waseo (瓦署), the government office that long fired and supplied roof tiles and bricks. It is said that the bricks used to build Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul and Yakhyeon Church in Jungnim-dong were supplied from here, and the Seoul Pilgrimage Route guide of the Seoul Archdiocese Committee for the Promotion of the Beatification of Martyrs states that the red bricks used in the buildings of the Yongsan Sacred Heart Seminary, Yakhyeon Church in Jungnim-dong, and the Myeongdong church are said to have been fired here.

During the Joseon period of Catholic persecution, the bodies of many martyrs were moved here and buried. According to the Seoul Pilgrimage Route guide, there is also an account that 9 people, including St. Augustine Yi Gwang-heon, martyred during the Gihae Persecution, were buried at Waegogae on the instructions of Bishop Imbert, but their whereabouts later became unknown.

The body of Fr. Andrew Kim Dae-geon, the first Korean priest, martyred at Saenamteo on September 16, 1846 during the Byeong-o Persecution, was recovered by the faithful and temporarily interred here, then transferred to Mirinae after the persecution subsided. The Mirinae Shrine guide of the Episcopal Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea explains that 40 days after his martyrdom the faithful secretly recovered the body and interred it at the Waseo behind the Yongsan Post Office (also known as Waegogae), then retrieved the remains on October 26 of that year, moved them to Mirinae, and interred them on October 30.

Peter Pak Sun-jip played a central role in the burials at the time of the Byeongin Persecution. According to the explanation published in GoodNews Catholic Information, Pak Sun-jip’s father, Paul Pak, moved the remains of Bishop Imbert and Frs. Maubant and Chastan, martyrs of the Gihae Persecution, from Nogosan to his ancestral burial ground at Samsung Mountain, interred them there, and told his son of this. Continuing his father’s will, Pak Sun-jip, together with John Pak Sun-ji and several other faithful, recovered the bodies of Bishop Berneux and Frs. Bretenières, Beaulieu, Dorie, Petitnicolas and Pourthié, and Alexis U Se-yeong, martyred at Saenamteo during the Byeongin Persecution, temporarily buried them near Saenamteo, and then reinterred them at Waegogae. He also recovered the bodies of John Nam Jong-sam and Peter Choe Hyeong, martyred at the intersection outside Seosomun, and laid them to rest here.

After the persecution ended, Bishop Blanc, the 7 head of the Joseon Diocese, investigated the deeds of the martyrs, and Pak Sun-jip testified before the ecclesiastical court about what he had seen and heard, where the martyrs’ remains were buried, and the deeds of the martyrs in his own family. This record of testimony, called the “Testimony of Pak Sun-jip,” comprises 3 volumes recording the deeds of 153 martyrs and is housed in the Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Museum.

The remains buried at Waegogae were subsequently transferred in stages. On October 30, 1899, the remains of 7 people martyred at Saenamteo during the Byeongin Persecution and buried at Waegogae were exhumed with Pak Sun-jip’s help, kept temporarily at the Yongsan Sacred Heart Seminary, and then interred in the crypt of Myeongdong Cathedral. The remains of the three clergy enshrined at Samsung Mountain were moved to the Yongsan Sacred Heart Seminary on October 21, 1901, while the beatification process was underway, and then enshrined in the crypt of the Myeongdong church on November 2 of the same year. The remains of Nam Jong-sam and Choe Hyeong, martyred at the intersection outside Seosomun, were exhumed on May 28, 1909 and likewise interred in the crypt of the Myeongdong church.

In 1924, ahead of the beatification, the crypt of the Myeongdong church was opened and some of the remains were distributed to Rome and the Paris Foreign Missions Society, among others, and in 1967, when the Martyrs Memorial Church was built at the Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine, most of the remains of the blessed martyrs interred at the Myeongdong church were moved to the reliquary chamber beneath the memorial church. According to the GoodNews explanation, the reliquary chamber at the Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine now holds the relics of 27 saints and the relics of 1 martyrs whose names are unknown, and it states that among 103 martyr saints, relics have been preserved for only 27.

Citing this history, the Military Diocese and GoodNews explain that Waegogae Shrine is a place where a total of 10 martyrs were buried, and that 8 of them were canonized by Pope John Paul 2 on May 6, 1984 at Yeouido Plaza in Seoul. The Military Diocese expanded and refurbished the shrine in December 2013 to honor its Church-historical significance and to allow pilgrims to pray in comfort, and held a blessing ceremony; GoodNews gives that date as December 15, 2013. The refurbished shrine includes a monument honoring the martyrs, a large crucifix, the Stations of the Cross, and prayer spaces.

Significance for Faith and Context for Visiting

Waegogae Shrine is included in Course 3, the Path of Unity, of the Catholic Seoul Pilgrimage Route guided by the Seoul Archdiocese Committee for the Promotion of the Beatification of Martyrs. This course connects Yakhyeon Church in Jungnim-dong, Danggogae Martyrs’ Shrine, Saenamteo Martyrs’ Shrine, Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine, Nogosan Shrine, Yongsan Sacred Heart Seminary, Waegogae Shrine, and Samsung Mountain Shrine. The Military Diocese introduces Waegogae as the resting place where the martyr saints stayed.

Related Places and People

• Armed Forces Central Cathedral (Cathedral of the Military Diocese): It is the cathedral of the Military Diocese located where the shrine stands.
• Saenamteo Martyrs’ Shrine: This is where Bishop Berneux and others were martyred during the Byeongin Persecution.
• Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine: This is where the reliquary chamber holding the remains of the blessed martyrs is located.
• Mirinae Shrine: This is where the remains of Fr. Kim Dae-geon, once interred at Waegogae, were transferred.
• Peter Pak Sun-jip: He is the faithful who recovered the bodies of the Byeongin Persecution martyrs and interred them at Waegogae.
• John Nam Jong-sam and Peter Choe Hyeong: They are the saints who, after being martyred at the intersection outside Seosomun, were buried here.

References and Sources

1. Military Diocese of Korea, Waegogae Shrine. Confirmed the origin of the place name, the fact that 7 Saenamteo martyrs were buried for 33 years and 2 martyrs from outside Seosomun for 43 years, the canonization of 8 out of 10, and the expansion of the shrine and erection of the monument honoring the martyrs in December 2013.
   https://www.gunjong.or.kr/parish/shrine.asp
2. GoodNews Catholic Information, Shrines and Historic Sites: Waegogae Shrine (Ju Pyeong-guk, From Heaven to the Ends of the Earth, Catholic Publishing House, citing and supplementing 1996). Confirmed Pak Sun-jip’s burial process, the exhumations and transfers of remains in 1899, 1901 and 1909, the distribution and transfer of remains in 1924 and 1967, and the blessing ceremony on December 15, 2013.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2294&menugubun=holyplace
3. Seoul Archdiocese Committee for the Promotion of the Beatification of Martyrs, Catholic Seoul Pilgrimage Route: Path of Unity (Waegogae Shrine). Confirmed the tradition of brick supply, the account of the burial of 9 Gihae Persecution martyrs including Yi Gwang-heon, the testimony of the temporary burial of Fr. Kim Dae-geon, and the composition of the pilgrimage course.
   https://martyrs.or.kr/_web/mpilgrims/aboutcourse.html?cidx=8
4. Episcopal Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Related Shrine: Mirinae Shrine. Confirmed how Fr. Kim Dae-geon’s body was interred at Waegogae (Waseo) and then moved to Mirinae in October 1846.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/42?page=3