Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop(1821-1861) was the first Korean-born seminary student and the second Korean-born Catholic priest, and was proclaimed as a Servant of God (Servus Dei) and Venerable (Venerabilis). Father St. Andrea Kim Dae-geon(1821-1846), t...
Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop(1821-1861) was the first Korean-born seminary student and the second Korean-born Catholic priest, and was proclaimed as a Servant of God (Servus Dei) and Venerable (Venerabilis). Father St. Andrea Kim Dae-geon(1821-1846), the first Korean-born priest, is relatively widely-known. The wide recognition of Father Kim Dae-geon is easily understandable with him being our first Korean priest and martyr saint. Father Choe Yang-eop has been comparably less recognized, but, we are seeing increased interest in Father Choe Yang-eop in recent years due to the influence of the “200th Anniversary Celebration of Father Choe Yang-eop's Birth” and the “Movement of Beatification and Canonization”, which took place in 2021 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Father Choe Yang-eop’s birth and the 160th death.
The Korean Catholic Church, built upon the voluntary acceptance and the blood of martyrs, has immense respect for its martyrs. The 2nd Vatican Council(1962-1965) states that “the martyrdom of following the teacher (Jesus Christ), who freely accepts death for the salvation of the world, and the shedding of his blood to become on with the Master, is considered the best grace and the supreme evidence of love in the church”(Article 42 of the Charter of the Church). That being so, there is a great deal of reverence for Father Kim Dae-geon, the first Korean-born priest martyr and “the patron saint for the Korean Church priests. It is important, however, to give reverence to Father Choe Yang-eop as well, “the martyr of sweat” who did as much passionate pastoral work as Father Kim Dae-geon’s martyrdom. Blood martyrdom is no longer practiced in the modern Korean church, but there is a calling for “sweat martydom”. Father Choe Yang-eop was the only Korean-born priest at the time, traveled every night by walking from village to village around the five provinces in order to avoid persecution for eleven years and six months. Father Choe Yang-eop did pastoral work in love and faith for God, in love and passion for God’s people, and in humility. This passion with his pastoral work is a great model to Korean Catholic church priests living in modern times.
For priests who seek to be like Christ, the three duties (the proclamation of the Word, the sanctification, and pastoral duties) and the three virtues (obedience, celibacy, and poverty) are important. In other words, they should faithfully perform the three important duties and strive to resemble the ministry of Jesus Christ, and strive to attain the perfection of Jesus Christ through the three important virtues. Father Choe Yang-eop faithfully performed the three important duties and presented the three important Virtues as well.
The priests in mission areas “must learn the history, purpose and methods of the Church's missionary activities and know the unique social, economic, and cultural circumstances of their people”(Article 17 of the Mission Statement). Accordingly, Korean priests should know Korean society, culture, and religion and grapple with how to apply this knowledge to their pastoral areas and situations. Father Choe Yang-eop lived in the mission field of Joseon Dynasty as a native-born missionary priest. Being a Korean-born priest who was well aware of the usefulness of Hangeul he actively used it to teach catechism for the Joseon Catholic Church.
Father Choe Yang-eop, the “martyr of sweat”, has become a role model for Korean priests, because he showed how to live as a native-born missionary priest through his entire priesthood of 11 years and 6 months. His spiritual life and pastoral activities show us the seven types of priests. In other words, we can see a priest who commits himself to the community of God's people, a priest who ministers the sacrament, a priest who cultivates people, a priest who educates believers, a priest who cooperates with his colleagues, a priest who does missionary work, and a priest who prays. Father Choe Yang-eop who “loved God and God’s people with all his heart”(cf. Mk 12:30), is a great role model for Korean priests.