Paul Chong Hasang

St. Paul Chong Hasang (* 1795 in Majae, Gyeonggi-do , Korea ; † September 22, 1839 in Small West Gate, Seoul ) is one of 79 Korean martyrs who were martyred during the persecution of Christians from 1838 to 1846.

His parents, brother and sister were also martyred. He himself was a catechist and in a letter asked the Pope to send more priests into the country. In the winter of 1836/37 he helped three missionaries secretly cross the mountains into the country. They worked in complete secrecy, getting up at 2:30 a.m. to celebrate mass at different times under extremely poor conditions. However, the number of Catholics grew so much that it was no longer possible to keep the activities secret. It is believed that there were around 9,000 Christians in the country at that time. The three French missionaries were captured on September 6, 1839 to prevent massacres and apostasy ( apostasy ) of many. They were executed on September 21st. The following day, Paul Chong and his friend Augustin Yu Chin-gil, the king's official interpreter, were also hanged.

In July 1925, Pope Pius XI spoke . 79 blessed martyrs who died between 1839 and 1846. 24 more, who died between 1861 and 1867, were beatified in 1968. Both groups were canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 6, 1984 in Seoul . Her feast day in the Roman calendar is September 20th. Paul Chong Hasang was given the honor of being named second after Andreas Kim Taegon and thus representing the group of Korean martyrs.

Since 1967, the Shrine of Korean Martyrs in Seoul commemorates all Catholic martyrs of Korea.