한국 순교 복자 성직 수도회

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.