St. Thomas More: A Man For All Seasons

Thomas More was born in London, England on February 7, 1477, the only son of Sir John More, barrister and judge and his wife, Agnes. When he was thirteen years old, More went to live in the household of Cardinal Morton, who was then the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop noticed his young protégée's superior intellect and sent him to study at Oxford. In 1494 he began to study law.
More considered entering the priesthood but discerned he was not called to the priesthood when he realized that he desired married life. At the age of 28 he married Jane Colte with whom he had three daughters and one son. In 1511, when the children were still very young, Jane died. Soon after More married a widow, Alice Middleton, who was seven years older than him. It was said that she was 'without beauty or education' but she was devoted to the children and More and the marriage seemed to have been a happy one.
More's fame as a lawyer grew and he was chosen by Cardinal Wolsey to go to Flanders to protect the interests of the English merchants there. It was during this time that he began to write his most famous book, Utopia, which was published in 1516.
In October, 1529, More succeeded Cardinal Wolsey as Chancellor of England, a post never before held by a layman. King Henry VIII considered More his friend and would often visit him at his home in Chelsea. He enjoyed More's conversation and admired his character.
Shortly after his first speech as chancellor in 1529, a royal proclamation ordered the clergy to acknowledge Henry as 'Supreme Head of the Church' in England. More resigned his post and firmly opposed Henry's divorce (which had been prohibited by the Pope) and as well as his usurping the role of the Pope as Head of the Church.
Shortly after Henry's marriage to Ann Boleyn in 1533, the Act of Succession was passed and persons of the court and parliament were required to take an oath that the children of Henry and Anne would be the legitimate heirs to the throne. This ignored Mary, the daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon, who had remained a faithful Catholic, as a legitimate heir to the English throne. More refused to take the oath and to acknowledge the King as the head of the Church and was consequently sent to the Tower of London. While there he continued to joke with his family and friends when they were allowed to visit but when he was alone he spent his time in prayer.
On July 1, 1535, More was indicted for high treason and perjury at Westminster Hall. Although he denied the charges, he was found guilty and was beheaded on Tower Hill July 6, 1535.
His last words were, "I die the King's servant, but God's first." He is one of several Patron Saints of lawyers and politicians.
Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn, was raised a Protestant and eventually became Queen Elizabeth and head of the Church of England. Although she is remembered as ‘Good Queen Bess’ she had many Catholic priests hunted down and killed for celebrating the forbidden Catholic Mass. Mary for a short time was also Queen and because she had Protestant noblemen killed is known as ‘Bloody Mary’.
The story of Thomas More's life has been excellently told in the movie, A Man for all Seasons (1966), starring Paul Scofield as More. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann. The film won six Academy Awards.

The Korean Martyrs: The Seed of the Church

Tertullian wrote in AD197, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Nowhere is this truer than in Korea.

Missions in Asia
When Franciscan and Dominican missionaries went to China in the 13th century, they found that some Chinese were already familiar with the Christian gospel as Nestorian Christians had come in the 7th century. Nestorius taught that there were two separate natures of Christ (human and divine) and Nestorianism was condemned as heresy at the First Council of Ephesus (AD431) and at the Council of Chalcedon in AD451. From then on Nestorius broke with the rest of the Christian Church.
Roman Catholic missionaries, including St. Francis Xavier, went to Japan in 1549 to take the Gospel to the Japanese people. And in Thailand priests who came with Portuguese traders began to teach the Christian religion in the 16th century. In Viet Nam and Cambodia Catholicism was brought by French colonists and priests accompanying them.
Christianity Comes to Korea
It is odd then that by the 16th century no missionaries had entered nearby Korea. At this time some educated Koreans began to study Christian books that had been brought from China. Through their search for truth many of these believed and became Christian. They gathered in house churches without the presence of any priests or other religious teachers. These house churches were led by educated lay people of the Korean aristocratic classes. We can see that the beginning of Christianity in Korea was unusual.
In the middle of the 18th century a Chinese Catholic priest entered Korea secretly and found 4,000 Catholics there! The Christians then sent a party to Beijing to ask the Bishop to send priests to them. Two Chinese priests were sent but were not able to stay long. Almost forty years after, in 1836, missionaries from the Paris Foreign Mission society sent priests to teach and give the sacraments.
Paul Yun Ji-chung (1759-1791)
In 1791 Paul Yun Ji-chung, a member of a noble family, converted to Christianity through the witness of his cousin. Other members of his family became Christians as well. When Paul’s mother died Paul followed her wishes that she be buried according to Catholic rites rather than the traditional Confucian rite. When investigated and arrested by authorities, Paul refused to deny his newfound faith. This brought about the first of persecutions of Christians in Korea. Paul Yun Ji-ching was the first member of an aristocratic class to be martyred for his Christian beliefs. Other members of the nobility were killed along with him. They were the first generation of Korean Christians.
Kim Taegon Andrea (1821-1846)
Saint Kim Taegon Andrea (1821-1846), known in English as St. Andrew Kim, was the first Korean-born Catholic priest. Kim’s parents were converts and Kim was baptized at age 15. Later he went to study at a seminary in Macau and also spent some time in the Philippines. After nine years of study he was ordained in Shanghai, China by the French Bishop there and returned to his homeland to evangelize.
The Josean Dynasty, which was Confucian, was in power and persecuted Christians. Many were martyred during this time. This new learning was said to undermine the teachings of Confucious especially the divisions of class and it was seen as subversive to the state. Official documents give details of trials, sentences and means of torture to the Christians. By 1866 there were only 20,000 Catholics in Korea as 10,000 Christians had been killed in persecutions spanning over one hundred years.
Andrew Kim was tortured and beheaded at the age of 25 in 1846. He was one of several thousand Christians who were executed at that time. Eleven members of his family, including his father, were also martyred. Seventy-nine of the martyrs were beatified (recognized as Blessed) in 1925. Twenty-four martyrs were beatified in 1968 by Pope John Paul II. And on May 6, 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized (recognized as Saints) Andrew Kim and 102 of his companion martyrs. These included men and women and children.
Kim’s last words were recorded as:
"This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively: if I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and for my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning.”
Catholics were not allowed to practise their faith freely in Korea until 1895.
Protestant Missions
The first Protestant missionary to Korea was Robert J. Thomas, a Welshman who was with the London Missionary Society. He arrived from China in 1865. In 1866, when attempting to re-enter Korea on an American ship, he was killed along with the entire crew of the ship.
Korean Catholics Today
The total population of South Korea in 2014 is 50.2 million: 6.6% of the population are Catholics, 19.7% are Protestants (all Protestant denominations), 23% are Buddhist and 47% claim no religion. There are 328 Catholic Schools, 40 Catholic hospitals, 513 homes for the elderly and handicapped, 35 Bishops, 4,261 priests, 516 male religious (Brothers), 9,016 female religious (Sisters) and 14,195 lay catechists.

Visit of Pope Francis
On August 16, 2014 Pope Francis beatified (declared Blessed) Paul Yun Ji-Chung and 123 companions during Asian World Youth Day Celebrations in Seoul, Korea.

20th Century Martyrs
The beatification process has been begun for priests and monks who died between 1940 an 1950 while undertaking evangelization missions. As well, John Song Hae-bung, a lay missionary, was martyred during the Korean War and thrity-six memebers of the Order of St. Benedict died in labour and prison camps between 1949-1952.

Sources

BBC news website accessed August 17, 2014

Salt and Light broadcast of the Mass For Beatification of the 124 Korean Martyrs. August 16, 2014.

Vatican Insider website accessed August 17, 2014
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/corea-del-sud-corea-del-sur-south-korea-martiri-martires-martyrs-31931/

Wikipedia website. Paul Yun Ji-chung. accessed August 17, 2014.
Wikipedia website. Robert J. Thomas. accessed August 17, 2014.