Paul Chong Hasang
| Born | 1795, Mahyan, Kingdom of Joseon |
|---|---|
| Died | 22 September 1839, Seoul, Kingdom of Joseon |
| State of life | Lay catechist and martyr |
| Religious institute or church | Apostolic Vicariate of Korea |
| Ecclesial status | Saint and martyr; canonized on 6 May 1984 |
| Recognition | Beatified on 5 July 1925; canonized by Pope John Paul II |
Paul Chong Hasang was a Korean lay catechist, organizer of the persecuted Church, advocate for a resident hierarchy, theological apologist, and martyr canonized with Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon and 101 companions.
Overview
| Paul Chong Hasang | |
| Hangul | 정하상 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 丁夏祥 |
| RR | Jeong Hasang |
| MR | Chŏng Hasang |
| Baptismal name | |
| Hangul | 바오로 |
| RR | Baoro |
| MR | Paoro |
Paul Chong Hasang (1794 or 1795–22 September 1839) was a Korean Catholic lay missionary known as one of the Korean Martyrs. His feast day is September 20,[1] and he is also venerated along with the rest of the 103 Korean martyrs on 20 September.
Life
Origins and formation
Paul Chong Hasang was born in 1795 at Mahyan in the Korean kingdom of Joseon to a family already formed by the Catholic faith. His father, Augustine Chong Yak-jong, and an elder brother were killed during the persecution of 1801; his mother Cecilia Yu So-sa and sister Elizabeth Chong Chong-hye also later died as martyrs. Confiscation of the family's possessions and official hostility did not dissolve their domestic transmission of faith. Paul received Christian formation principally through lay believers because priests were scarce or absent. This setting is central to his biography: Catholicism in Korea first developed through Korean readers, catechists, households, and voluntary networks that encountered Christian books brought from China before a stable ordained ministry could be established.
Vocation and ministry
As a young adult Paul moved to Seoul and became a leading catechist and coordinator for scattered Catholic communities. Employment connected with government interpreting helped him make repeated journeys with the annual Korean embassy to Beijing. He used those journeys to contact clergy, request sacraments and pastoral care, and explain the situation of the Korean faithful. Appeals associated with Paul helped secure the erection of the Apostolic Vicariate of Korea by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831. He assisted Bishop Laurent Imbert and other missionaries in entering and working within Korea, prepared candidates and catechumens, and was himself studying for priesthood when the persecution of 1839 brought arrest. He remained a layman; intended ordination must not be converted retrospectively into clerical status.[2]
Christian witness and legacy
Spirituality
Paul's spirituality was ecclesial and missionary: fidelity to Christ required Baptism, prayer, catechesis, sacramental communion whenever priests could reach the faithful, and practical labor to obtain lasting pastoral structures. During imprisonment he composed or presented the Sangjae sangseo, a written defense explaining that Catholic worship of the Creator did not authorize political treason and that Christian moral teaching supported genuine filial and social duties. The document belongs to an apologetic confrontation in a specific Joseon legal setting, yet it shows that his martyrdom was not a rejection of Korean identity. Paul answered coercive demands to renounce the faith with reasoned testimony and persevered through interrogation and torture. The Church recognizes his death as martyrdom because he was killed in hatred of the Catholic faith and freely remained faithful to Christ.
Work and historical significance
Paul's historical importance extends beyond the manner of his death. He linked a locally generated lay Church with the universal communion of bishops and the Bishop of Rome, helped obtain a distinct vicariate, welcomed missionaries without surrendering Korean agency, and left a substantial vernacular defense of Catholic belief. His biography corrects accounts in which Christianity simply arrived through foreign clergy: Korean lay Catholics had already read, baptized, taught, organized, traveled, petitioned, and died for the faith. It also resists the opposite mistake of making sacramental ministry dispensable. Paul's repeated efforts to secure bishops and priests expressed Catholic conviction about apostolic succession, Eucharistic life, reconciliation, and ecclesial order. His work therefore belongs to Korean intellectual, diplomatic, lay-apostolate, catechetical, and martyr history.
Cause and veneration
Recognition and present status
Paul was executed by beheading at Seoul on 22 September 1839 after refusing apostasy. The Church examined his martyrdom together with other Korean witnesses and Pope Pius XI beatified him among a group of seventy-nine martyrs on 5 July 1925. A unified cause later brought that group together with twenty-four martyrs beatified in 1968. Pope Saint John Paul II canonized Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Paul Chong Hasang, and 101 companions at Seoul on 6 May 1984, dispensing from the usual miracle requirement for the group and solemnly enrolling all 103 as Saints and martyrs. Paul's exact present status is Saint and martyr, not merely national hero, prospective priest, or Servant of God. Canonization does not make every reconstructed detail of clandestine travel equally certain, but definitively establishes his universal public veneration.[3][4]
Liturgical and devotional scope
Saint Paul Chong Hasang may be publicly venerated throughout the Catholic Church and is not separated liturgically from the communion of martyrs with whom he was canonized. The General Roman Calendar keeps the Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and Paul Chong Hasang, and Companions, Martyrs, on 20 September; proper Korean calendars may contain additional observances governed by approved books and precedence. Paul's dies natalis is 22 September, but the universal memorial intentionally preserves the group. Devotion should name the women, men, clergy, and laity who suffered together, strengthen persecuted Christians, and support catechesis, religious freedom, and prayer for peace in Korea. Approved images and relics remain subject to exact identification and ecclesiastical custody rather than generic Korean-martyr imagery.[5]
Life and legacy
He was the son of the martyr Augustine Chŏng Yakjong.
When Yakjong was martyred with Hasang's older brother, Yakjong's wife and the remaining children were spared and went into a rural place. Hasang was then seven years old.
When he grew up, Hasang chose to become a servant of a government interpreter; this enabled him to travel to Beijing multiple times, where he entreated the bishop of Beijing to send priests to Korea, and wrote to Pope Gregory XVI via the bishop of Beijing requesting the establishment of a diocese in Korea. This happened in 1825.
Some years later, Bishop Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert and two priests were sent. The bishop found Hasang to be talented, zealous, and virtuous; he taught him Latin and theology, and was about to ordain him when a persecution broke out. Hasang was captured and gave the judge a written statement defending Catholicism. The judge, after reading it, said, "You are right in what you have written; but the king forbids this religion, it is your duty to renounce it." Hasang replied, "I have told you that I am a Christian, and will be one until my death."
After this, Hasang went through a series of tortures in which his countenance remained tranquil. Finally, he was bound to a cross on a cart and led to his death, at the age of 45.[6]
The Korean Martyrs are commemorated by the Roman Catholic Church with a memorial on 20 September. 103 of them, including Hasang, were canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1984.[7]
References
- Back to citation "Roman Martyrology" (in Italian). The Vatican. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03.
- Back to citation Vatican News profile of Paul Chong Hasang and the Korean Martyrs — The Holy See news service describes Paul's family martyrdom, journeys to Beijing, petition for an apostolic vicariate, written defense, imprisonment, and place in the 20 September memorial.
- Back to citation John Paul II homily for the canonization of the Korean Martyrs — The papal homily belongs to the solemn act at Seoul on 6 May 1984 and identifies Paul Chong Hasang within the 103 Korean martyrs while interpreting their confession, lay initiative, and death in Christ.
- Back to citation Apostolic letter on the canonization of the Korean Martyrs — The official Acta Apostolicae Sedis record gives the two beatification groups, the papal dispensation, the exact canonization date, and the formula naming Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Paul Chong Hasang, and 101 companions Saints and martyrs.
- Back to citation Dicastery guidance on remembering holiness — Official Dicastery guidance distinguishes Saint, Blessed, Venerable, and Servant of God and explains the corresponding limits on public cult, liturgical observance, images, relics, and devotional presentation.
- Back to citation The New Glories of the Catholic Church, (London: 1859) pp. 56–59.
- Back to citation Rausch, Franklin (October 2019). "The Late Chosŏn Korean Catholic Archives: Documenting this World and the Next". The Journal of Korean Studies (1979-). 24 (2). Duke University Press: 327. JSTOR 48567925.
External links
Bibliography
- The Lives of the 103 Korean Martyr Saints (4): St. Chong Ha-sang Paul (1795–1839) Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea Newsletter No. 29 (Winter 1999).