Andrew Kim Taegon was born in 1821 at Solmoe (Chungcheong) into a Korean family long rooted in the Christian faith. Once well-to-do, his family had fallen into hardship because of the severe persecutions inflicted on Christians by the authorities. Yet they gave a shining witness of perseverance in their faith.
Encouraged by a missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Andrew left his homeland to begin seminary studies. In 1837 he was sent to Macao with two companions. Later he traveled to Shanghai, where in 1845 he became the first Korean to be ordained a priest. He returned secretly to Korea, and with courage and zeal began his apostolic work, though Christian activity was absolutely forbidden.
Before long, Andrew was discovered, arrested, and subjected to cruel torments. He was martyred in Seoul on September 16, 1846.
He was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1984. Because he was the first Korean priest and a model missionary of heroic faith, he is held in special honor among the many martyrs—including Paul Chong Hasang—whose blood became the fertile seed of Christianity in nineteenth-century Korea, a faith that continues to flourish today. Saint Andrew Kim is venerated as patron of priests in Korea.
