About this place
The Saenamteo Monastery of the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs is a men’s religious community sharing the site of the Saenamteo Martyrs’ Shrine and church in Ichon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The Korean Catholic Directory likewise lists the place as “Saenamteo Monastery / Saenamteo Martyrs’ Shrine Church.” Founded by Fr. Andrew Bang Yu-ryong in 1953, the congregation is recognized as Korea’s first indigenous men’s religious congregation and lives the spirituality of the Korean martyrs and “Myeonhyeong Mua,” self-emptying in union with Christ.
The monastery is both a home for religious life and a base supporting pastoral care of the shrine and veneration of the martyrs. With the memorial church and religious community on the same site, it helps carry the memory of martyrdom into contemporary Catholic life through liturgy, pilgrimage, and consecrated life.
History & origins
Saenamteo, where clergy and lay Catholics were martyred from the 1801 persecution onward, was designated a Catholic martyrdom historic site in 1950, and a memorial monument was erected on July 8, 1956. The Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs began caring for the site in 1957. In 1963 it built a Saenamteo branch house, giving a permanent form to its community life and apostolate of honoring the martyrs, and in 1967 it acquired the present church site.
On August 21, 1981, the Archdiocese of Seoul created Saenamteo Parish from territory of Hangang and Samgakji parishes and appointed a priest of the congregation as its first pastor. Construction of a new church began in 1983. On September 12, 1987, the Korean traditional-style memorial complex, including the main church, a smaller chapel, exhibition space, and monastery, was completed and dedicated.
Through this development, the congregation’s first branch grew into a community where shrine stewardship, parish ministry, and veneration of the martyrs come together. The present monastery and church stand on that history, uniting the congregation’s founding spirituality with the memory of the Saenamteo martyrs.
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Building information
- Passenger elevators: 1
- 3 above-ground floors · 1 below-ground floors
- Approved for use in 1987
- Total floor area: 4,691㎡
Building-register record · · Source
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
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Official website: https://aos.catholic.or.kr
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