---
title: Pope emphasizes unique history of the Church in Korea
url: https://www.faithfulnews.com/en/pope-emphasizes-unique-history-of-the-church-in-korea
published: 2026-10-08T14:50:54+00:00
language: en
section: World Church
source: https://www.vaticannews.va/ru/pope/news/2026-10/papa-napomnil-ob-unikalnoy-istorii-cerkvi-koree.html
organizations: xiv
publisher: FaithfulNews
---

# Pope emphasizes unique history of the Church in Korea

Pope expressed gratitude to the community of the college for its service to the Church in Korea and worldwide. He highlighted the uniqueness of Korean Catholicism, stating, "In Korea, faith arose spontaneously and developed through the sincere searches of people who encountered Christian texts and wished to learn more about Jesus Christ. From this search arose the desire to be baptized, and from baptism arose a community reminiscent of the early Church." This history, the Pope continued, encourages the faithful to preserve memory and hope. The Church in Korea grew from the witness of martyrs, whose hope "did not depend on favorable circumstances but stemmed from the certainty that Christ has already won": "To keep the memory of martyrs means that their faith lives in our choices, in our service, in our forgiveness, and in our self-giving."

The Pope referenced Blessed Thomas Choi Yang-up, the second priest in Korea's history, remembered by the Church as the "martyr of the seventh sweat." For 11 years, he tirelessly brought the Word of God and the Sacraments to remote and hard-to-reach areas of Korea, and his witness reminds us of martyrdom's existence, both of those who give their lives at a specific moment and those who do so quietly, giving their lives day by day.

The Pope addressed the painful issue of the peninsula's division and urged clergy, nuns, and monks to always be "people of reconciliation." He stated, "Let us continue to work and pray for new paths of meeting to open, and for the Gospel of peace to be freely proclaimed in all lands of the Korean peninsula and throughout the world." At the end of the audience, the Pope entrusted Korean priests and religious, many involved in preparing for World Youth Day in Seoul, to the Immaculate Virgin, the heavenly patroness of Korea. "I ask for the intercession of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon and Saint Paul Chong, all the saints and blessed Korean martyrs, that they accompany you and make you guardians of memory, witnesses of hope, and artisans of peace."

## This story in other languages

- [Italiano](https://www.faithfulnews.com/it/il-papa-ricorda-la-storia-unica-della-chiesa-in-corea)