Songgol Sanctuary

Overview

Songol Shrine is a shrine of the Diocese of Suwon located at the foot of Mount Gwanggyo in Dongcheon-dong, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. It stands on the site of a small Catholic village inhabited only by believers during the persecution era and served as a base where French missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society learned the language and customs of Joseon while preparing for mission. It especially commemorates Saint Henri Dorie (Kim) and Saint Pierre Aumaitre (O), martyred during the Byeongin Persecution (1866), and although Songol is not a martyrdom site, several martyrs came from among the believers who lived in the village. The shrine was officially established in 1966.

History

The name Songol derives from Songok (蓀谷), meaning a “fragrant valley” lush with fragrant grasses and orchids (Special Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Bishops’ Conference, Digital Yongin Culture Encyclopedia). According to the Digital Yongin Culture Encyclopedia, residents called Songol a seonggyochon (聖敎村), a village of the Catholic faithful. The date when the Catholic village formed is unclear, but believers who went into hiding to escape the Gihae Persecution in 1839 appear to have formed the village, and at the time of the Byeongin Persecution in 1866, only 12 households of believers reportedly lived there. The Bishops’ Conference explains that, judging from the movement of provincial believers toward the Seoul area around the Gihae Persecution in 1839, the Songol village was likely formed in that period.

According to the Catholic Times of July 22, 2025, Father Dorie wrote in a letter to Father Rande on September 29, 1865 that only believers lived in Songol, with a total of 12 households. In a letter to his parents on October 16, 1865, Father Dorie wrote that the Songol faithful barely earned a living mainly by tobacco farming and, although they had a few rice paddies, the paddies had been ruined by flooding so that life was so hard that it was difficult even to obtain food. A Bishops’ Conference text citing the Diocese of Suwon states that, based on Father Dorie’s letter, at least 40 to 50 believers appear to have lived together in Songol while he stayed there.

Songol was selected as a Catholic village where missionaries, after entering the country, learned the language and customs in a safe place while preparing for mission. According to the Bishops’ Conference, Fathers Perron, Joanno, Calais, Aumaitre and Dorie stayed in Songol, and in the summer season when visits to the faithful paused, Bishop Berneux and Fathers Landre, Petitnicolas and Ouin visited to make a retreat and restore body and mind. A Catholic Times article of 2025 dates the full establishment of the place as a center for learning Joseon’s language and customs to 1857, noting that in March of that year Father Perron resided in the Songol village, in 1861 Father Joanno and Father Calais resided there, Father Aumaitre stayed from July 1863 for about 1 years, and finally Father Dorie arrived on June 23, 1865. The same article reports that Bishop Daveluy described a neat place with a small waterfall near Songol in a letter dated September 18, 1853.

Father Dorie spent almost all of his time in Korea in Songol and was arrested in Songol and martyred (Bishops’ Conference). According to a Catholic Times article of 2025, Father Dorie was arrested on February 27, 1866, and when the Joseon officials ordered him to be repatriated, he refused, saying, “Since I have learned the language while staying in this country, I will die rather than return,” and was martyred at Saenamteo in Seoul on March 7. The Digital Yongin Culture Encyclopedia states that Father Dorie entered Joseon in 1865, carried out missionary activity in Songol, was arrested directly by constables, and was martyred at Saenamteo at the age of 27, and in 1984 was canonized by Pope John Paul 2 as one of the 103 Korean martyr saints. Father Aumaitre ministered in the area of the present Diocese of Suwon, including Songol, until he was arrested and martyred (Bishops’ Conference).

The Bishops’ Conference reports that among the believers who lived in Songol, the martyrdom story of three generations—John Yi, his son Peter Yi, and his grandson Francis Yi—is famous. According to the Digital Yongin Culture Encyclopedia, the three generations lived in Songol, fled during the Byeongin Persecution, and were martyred in 1871.

Development of the shrine began in the 1960s. According to a Catholic Times article of 2025, Father Joseph Grellet, the parish pastor of Father Dorie’s home parish, visited Korea on a journey for Father Dorie’s beatification, made a pilgrimage to Songol, and afterward, to link Talmont (Talmont), Father Dorie’s hometown in France, with Songol, cut the granite millstone once used by Father Dorie’s farmer father to make two crosses, erecting one each in France and Korea. The Bishops’ Conference states that in 1966, for the 100 anniversary of Father Dorie’s martyrdom, the home parish made two identical stone crosses from the millstone used by Father Dorie’s parents, placing one on the wall of his birth house and sending the other to Songol, and records that the blessing of the memorial monument erected on the basis of that cross took place on October 24, 1966. A Catholic Times article dated April 2, 2024 says that development of Songol Shrine began with this stone cross as the occasion, and an article of 2025 states that Songol Shrine was officially established in 1966.

According to the Good News shrine introduction, the Father Dorie martyrdom monument was restored to its original form in 2014 after several alterations. In October 2013, the remains of 4 unknown martyrs who had lived the faith in Songol, were arrested, and were martyred at a stream near Seobong were moved from the unknown martyrs’ cemetery at Mirinae to Songol Shrine for enshrinement, and the Martyrs’ Path was created. In March 2015 a statue of Saint Aumaitre was erected, and in May 2016 a new church was consecrated to commemorate the 50 anniversary of the shrine’s establishment and the 150 anniversary of the Byeongin Persecution. In May 2017 the former chapel was renovated to open the Songol Memorial Hall, which exhibits relics related to the shrine and the saints. The Digital Yongin Culture Encyclopedia states that the Korean Martyrs Research Institute is now established at Songol Shrine and that Dongcheon Saint Paul Church and the Suji Marian Education Center are nearby.

Architecture and Space

According to the Good News shrine introduction, a statue of Saint Henri Dorie, the Way of the Cross, a chapel and memorial hall, a retreat house, and the Father Dorie martyrdom monument were erected to commemorate Father Dorie. The martyrdom monument stands behind the parking lot in the form of a tower built of bricks with a cross raised on top, and the stone cross on the monument is the one sent from Father Dorie’s hometown (Catholic Times of 2024).

According to a Catholic Times article of 2025, the Songol Memorial Hall displays the original handwritten letter of Father Aumaitre and the bedspread and books Father Dorie used at home as a seminarian. In the “Martyrs’ Room” are enshrined the remains of Saint Henri Dorie, Saint Pierre Aumaitre, Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon, and the unknown martyrs from Songol, and on the hillside behind the church is the Martyrs’ Tomb enshrining the remains of 4 persons martyred after living in the Songol village. The shrine church has 12 stained-glass windows depicting Father Dorie and Father Aumaitre living with the faithful in the village. The resident priest of the shrine created the “Aumaitre Rest Area” beyond the bridge crossing a small stream, where one window looks toward the church and the other toward Mount Cheonggye.

Religious Significance and Visiting Context

Songol is distinctive in that it was not a martyrdom site but a missionary base for missionaries and a Catholic village. The Bishops’ Conference reports that when Father Dorie heard on June 15, 1864 that he had been assigned to Korea, he said, “Long live Joseon! I thank God for giving me so beautiful a mission field.” A Catholic Times series of 2024 recalls that Songol was where Father Dorie, Father Aumaitre and many other missionaries learned the Korean language and customs and ministered, and that they were all priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society headquartered in France.

Related Places and People

• Saint Henri (Dorie) Dorie (Kim): a priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who arrived in Songol on June 23, 1865, ministered there, was arrested, and was martyred at Saenamteo.
• Saint Pierre (Aumaitre) Aumaitre (O): a priest who stayed in Songol from July 1863 for about 1 years. He ministered in the area of the Diocese of Suwon, including Songol, until he was arrested and martyred.
• John Yi, Peter Yi, and Francis Yi: three generations of martyrs who lived in Songol.
• Mirinae Shrine: the place with the unknown martyrs’ cemetery where the remains of 4 unknown martyrs from the Songol village had been enshrined until before 2013.
• Father Joseph Grellet: the parish pastor of Father Dorie’s home parish who made a pilgrimage to Songol in the 1960s for Father Dorie’s beatification.

References and Sources

1. Catholic Internet Good News, Songol Shrine (Shrines and Historic Sites). Shrine facilities and development history after 2013 (restoration of the martyrdom monument, enshrinement of unknown martyrs’ remains, consecration of the church, opening of the memorial hall).
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2321
2. Special Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Bishops’ Conference of Korea, related shrine Songol Shrine. Origin of the place name, role of the Catholic village, stays of the missionaries, 1966 memorial monument.
   https://www.cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/39
3. Digital Yongin Culture Encyclopedia, Songol Shrine. Formation and size of the Catholic village, the three generations of the Yi family, Father Dorie’s martyrdom and canonization, present status.
   https://yongin.grandculture.net/yongin/toc/GC00902025
4. Catholic Times, [Suwon Diocese Church Pilgrimage] Songol Shrine Church (2025-07-22). Chronology of the missionaries’ stays, Father Dorie’s arrest and martyrdom, process of shrine development, memorial hall and church facilities.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20250718500085
5. Catholic Times, [Korean Church History Encountered in the Diocese] (21) Songol Shrine: the Paris Foreign Missions Society and the Church in France (2024-04-02). The stone cross and martyrdom monument, occasion for Songol Shrine development, activities of the Paris Foreign Missions Society missionaries.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20240401500089