Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine

Overview

Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine is a martyrs' shrine of the Catholic Diocese of Suwon centered on Buksudong Church in Buksudong, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. It lies inside Suwon Hwaseong, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, and the church stands on the former site of the Jungyeong (Topocheong) of the Suwon Yusu Office in the late Joseon period. The shrine's official homepage explains that during the Byeongin Persecution (1866–1873), more than 80 martyrs and many unknown martyrs were martyred at the Jungyeong and the prison site here and outside the North Gate (Janganmun) and the South Gate (Paldalmun) by beheading, hanging, beating to death, suffocation with wet paper, death in prison, and other means. It was proclaimed as 'Suwon Shrine' on September 20, 2000, and the shrine name was changed to 'Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine' on March 19, 2024.

History

Suwon Hwaseong was designed and built by Dasan Jeong Yagyong under the order of King Jeongjo and completed in 1796 (Catholic Newspaper), and was designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1997. The Good News shrine guide explains that this Suwon Hwaseong later became an execution ground for the faithful once the persecution of Catholicism began. Believers arrested in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Chungcheong-do were interrogated and tortured here before being martyred, and the entire fortress wall with a circumference of 5,743 m is the martyrdom site of 83 known martyrs and countless unknown martyrs, with more than 10 places inside Hwaseong identified as martyrdom and witness sites. The shrine's official homepage lists 81 known Suwon martyrs, so the figure differs by source. The Catholic Newspaper reported that there were 19 martyrdom sites in Suwon Hwaseong and estimated that more than 2,000 unknown martyrs were martyred inside Hwaseong. According to the same article, hanging by suspending victims from poplar trees and the domoji punishment (death-by-wet-paper punishment) of pasting wet window paper on the face to suffocate were practiced, and on market days public executions by beating with clubs were carried out in the marketplace outside Janganmun while people watched. It is said that the heads of executed Catholics were hung at the North Secret Gate as a warning.

The shrine's official homepage guide to martyrdom sites states that although several places in Suwon Hwaseong are presumed to be martyrdom sites, the official records leave four sites: Jungyeong (Topocheong, the present church site), the prison site (near the South Gate, in the furniture-street area), outside the South Gate (Paldalmun), and outside the North Gate (Janganmun). Of these, Jungyeong (Topocheong) is introduced as the place where 8 Servants of God (listed in the guide as Hwang Johan, Ko Sisu James, Bak Uiseo Saba, Bak Wonseo Mark, Bak Ikseo, Yun Pyeongsim, Hong Changryong, Kwon Jungsim, and others) were martyred. Bak Uiseo, Bak Wonseo, and Bak Ikseo were three brothers martyred together. At the prison site, it records the prison and hanging martyrdoms of 6 Servants of God, including Won Francis, Yun Jaho Paul, Bak Taejin Matthias, and Bak Seonjin Mark (by hanging), Kim Sabeom (by beating), and Seo Yeosim (by death in prison). Yun Jaho Paul, as president of the faithful, was appointed by Bishop Daveluy as head of the faithful communities in the Chungcheong-do region, was arrested in Gongju, imprisoned in Suwon Prison, and martyred by hanging on September 4, 1868. Sim Wongyeong Stephen and his son Sim Bonghak were seized at the Sagimakgol Catholic village during the Byeongin Persecution and dragged to the Suwon Yusu Office; Sim Wongyeong Stephen was martyred by beating at the marketplace outside the South Gate in November 1866 at the age of 50. The guide states that Ji Tadeo was arrested during the Byeongin Persecution, apostatized once, was arrested again in April 1869, and was publicly executed in the open ground outside the North Gate (Janganmun).

The Good News guide says that as these facts came to light, in 2000 Bishop Choi Deokgi, then Bishop of the Diocese of Suwon, proclaimed the Catholic Suwon Shrine centered on Buksudong Church (the former Suwon Church) to honor the martyrs of Suwon Hwaseong. According to the Buksudong parish history, Buksudong Church was proclaimed a martyrs' shrine on September 20, 2000, followed by the unveiling ceremony of the Catholic Suwon Shrine signboard on June 7, 2001, the approval by the diocesan bishop of the prayer for the sanctification of the Suwon martyrs' shrine and the start of praying it on September 15, 2001, and the No. 2 Suwon Martyrs Honoring Assembly (at Jeongja-dong Church) on September 20, 2001. On February 17, 2003, a Suwon Martyrs' Shrine sign was installed by the roadside, and on September 22, 2005, the academic symposium “The Suwon Martyrs' Shrine and the Life and Death of the Ancestors in Faith in the Suwon Region” was held with the Suwon Diocesan History Research Institute. In March 2007, construction began in the parish playground on the 191 m 'Hwaseong Rosary Road,' corresponding to 30–1 of the 5,743 m circumference of Suwon Hwaseong, with a blessing ceremony on June 24. On January 6, 2012, a Suwon Shrine marker stone and a shrine parish information board were installed at the church entrance. The Suwon Martyrs Honoring Assembly has been held every year since the No. 2 assembly in 2001, leading to the No. 23 Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine Honoring Assembly (with Bishop Mun Heejong) on September 7, 2024.

According to the shrine guide, Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine offers honoring Masses for the beatification and canonization of 20 Servants of God, including 17 late-Joseon martyrs such as Won Francis and Yun Jaho Paul martyred here, and 3 modern martyrs including Father Poli, who ministered here for 18 years. The Good News guide introduces the Suwon shrine as honoring the 17 Servants of God martyred in Suwon and the unknown martyrs among Yi Byeok John the Baptist and his 132 companions selected as candidates for the No. 2 beatification and canonization. The Catholic Newspaper (July 2024) reports that the names of the Servants of God honored by the shrine are written on the right side of the shrine altar, most of them martyrs of the Byeongin Persecution that began in 1866, but the last three (Sim Eungyeong Poli Desiderato, Yu Yeonggeun John, and Johan Kollin) have martyrdom year written as 1950, showing that they are 6–25 War martyrs. The Buksudong parish history records the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, Father Yi Boyeong's evacuation to the Osansu Catholic mission chapel on June 29, and evacuation to Daegu on December 23 (after the 1–4 retreat), and notes that memorial events honoring the abduction of Father Sim Polli and the death of Father Yi Boyeong are held every August.

Buksudong Parish became independent from Wangnim Parish as Suwon Parish in November 1923, with Father Lemer (Ludovico) appointed as the first pastor. According to the parish history, earlier the Suwon-eup mission chapel hall had opened in 1890, lay leaders of Suwon-eup had purchased 800 pyeong of field near Hwanghakjeong in Namsu-ri, and on March 31, 1897, purchased more than 300 pyeong of land in Buksuri. In May 1931 Father Sim Desiderato Poli took office as the No. 4 pastor, and on November 13, 1932, the dedication ceremony was held for the Gothic-style St. Michael Church (the former Suwon Church, with a floor area of 75 pyeong); at that time there were 28 mission chapels and more than 2,600 faithful. On April 23, 1933, the church bell was blessed. On April 5, 1979, the dedication ceremony was held for the present Buksudong Church (137 pyeong) and the convent (47 pyeong). After a 100 anniversary workshop on October 7, 2022, the proclamation ceremony for the parish No. 100 anniversary was held on January 1, 2023, and the No. 100 anniversary Mass was offered on November 19, 2023. The parish history also records that the blessing ceremony for the Eucharistic adoration chapel and the saints' relics enshrinement room took place on February 9, 2025.

Architecture and Spaces

The shrine's official homepage introduces that the present church, newly built in 1979, enshrines the relics of St. Kim Daegeon Andrew (at the church altar), St. Bishop Imbert, St. Father Maubant, St. Father Chastan, St. Kim Seongu Antonio, and St. Choe Gyeonghwan Francis, with some of them kept in the underground saints' relics room. The bronze bell of the former Suwon Church (Buksudong Parish), made in France in 1932, is preserved in the bell tower at the shrine entrance with the story of having almost been seized, and has been rung daily at 12 o'clock since December 2024. The stone building completed in 1954, Poli Gallery (the former Sohwa Elementary School, the first private school in Suwon), National Registered Cultural Heritage No. 697, is used as a cultural space for sacred-art exhibitions and other purposes. According to the parish history, Sohwa Academy opened on October 2, 1934, on the 4-year system and was authorized on the 4-year system on December 9, 1938; the former Sohwa Elementary School (Poli Gallery) was designated as Registered Cultural Heritage No. 697 on October 23, 2017, and the 1-floor exhibition room of the Poli Gallery old building opened on November 21, 2007. On August 30, 1954, a stone rectory in French architectural style (1 stories and 45 pyeong, 2 floor and 25 pyeong) was newly built, with a dedication ceremony on September 29.

The Catholic Newspaper reports that the Stations of the Cross inside the church are arranged like a small garden where more than 2,000 kinds of wildflowers grow. The poplar tree at the end of the Stations of the Cross is said to have been replanted later from the tree on which ancestors in faith who refused to apostatize were reportedly hanged. The same article notes that Suwon Hwaseong is Historic Site No. 3 and introduces traces in Suwon Hwaseong designed by Jeong Yagyong that can be linked to Catholicism. It interprets the 7 sluice gates of Hwahongmun (the North Water Gate) in connection with the number 7 symbolizing Catholicism, such as the Seven Stars and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the 9 sluice gates of the South Water Gate in connection with the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit, and explains that 86 cross patterns are carved on the west wall of Banghwasuryujeong (the Northeast Corner Pavilion) with three cross-shaped beams on the ceiling. This is, however, an interpretation presented by the article.

Religious Meaning and Visiting Context

The shrine's official homepage announces that it conducts the Moonlight Pilgrimage (2008 started), a walking pilgrimage of the martyrdom sites at 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. The Catholic Newspaper (August 2019) writes that the Moonlight Pilgrimage is held at 7:30 p.m. on the first Friday of each month, so the schedule differs by source.

Related Places and People

• Buksudong Church: a parish of the Diocese of Suwon inside the shrine, independent from Wangnim Parish in 1923. The shrine name is 'Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine Buksudong Church.'
• Poli Gallery (the former Sohwa Elementary School): a stone building completed in 1954, National Registered Cultural Heritage No. 697.
• Suwon Hwaseong: built in the reign of King Jeongjo and completed in 1796, Historic Site No. 3 and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
• Father Sim Desiderato Poli: took office as the No. 4 pastor of Suwon Parish in 1931, and the shrine honors him as a modern Servant of God who ministered here for 18 years.
• Father Yi Boyeong (Joseph): the No. 5 pastor of the former Suwon Church, with an annual memorial event in August on his death anniversary.
• Yun Jaho Paul, Won Francis, the three brothers Bak Uiseo, Bak Wonseo, and Bak Ikseo, Sim Wongyeong Stephen, and Ji Tadeo: Servants of God martyred in Suwon.

References and Sources

1. Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine Buksudong Church, Introduction to the Shrine. Confirmed the shrine proclamation (2000), name change (2024), martyrdom overview, honoring subjects, Moonlight Pilgrimage, and the enshrinement of relics in the church, bell tower, Poli Gallery, and relics.
   https://suwons.net/holypla_about
2. Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine Buksudong Church, Major Martyrdom Sites of Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine. Confirmed the 4 martyrdom sites in the official records and the martyrdom accounts of the Servants of God.
   https://suwons.net/martyrdom
3. Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine Buksudong Church, Parish History. Confirmed the parish independence (1923), dedication of the former Suwon Church (1932), dedication of the present church (1979), and the sanctification process after the shrine proclamation.
   https://suwons.net/history
4. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, Good News, Suwon Shrine among Shrines and Historic Sites (Suwon Hwaseong, Buksudong Church). Confirmed the overview of the Byeongin Persecution martyrdoms and the background of the shrine proclamation.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2323
5. Catholic Newspaper, “[Exploring Cultural Heritage in Search of Traces of Ancestors in Faith] (2) Suwon Shrine (Suwon Hwaseong)” (August 2019). Confirmed the martyrdom sites and execution methods and the Catholic-related interpretation of Suwon Hwaseong.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/201908060100128
6. Catholic Newspaper, “[Meeting Korean Church History in the Diocese (29, Final)] Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs' Shrine: 6–25 Korean War and the Church” (July 2024). Confirmed 3 6–25 War martyrs among the list of Servants of God honored by the shrine.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20240722500123