A young French missionary priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society martyred in Korea in 1866 at the age of 29.

Martin-Luc Huin (1836-1866) was a French priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (Missions Étrangères de Paris) who served as a missionary in Korea. He was arrested and executed at Galmaemot, near Boryeong in Korea’s Chungcheong province, on March 30, 1866, at the age of 29, during the Byeongin persecution, one of the deadliest anti-Catholic campaigns in Korean history.

Quick Facts

• Born: 1836, France
• Died: March 30, 1866, Galmaemot, Boryeong, Chungcheong-do, South Korea (age 29)
• Feast Day: September 20
• Venerated as: Priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society; martyr

Who Was Saint Martin-Luc Huin?

Martin-Luc Huin left France as a young priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society to serve the underground Catholic Church in Korea, a country that had legally banned Christianity and periodically executed both foreign missionaries and Korean converts. He worked in secret among Korean Catholics until his arrest during the sweeping persecution ordered by the Korean regent Heungseon Daewongun in 1866.

Historical Setting

The Byeongin persecution of 1866 was among the largest and bloodiest campaigns against Christians in Korean history, triggered in part by the regent’s fear of foreign, especially French, influence; it claimed the lives of thousands of Korean Catholics and most of the small number of French missionary priests then working in the country.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Martin-Luc Huin

Huin is remembered as one of the young French missionaries who left everything familiar to serve a persecuted, largely hidden church, knowing the serious risk involved, and who was captured and executed within a few years of his arrival, a life given almost entirely to a mission field that cost him his life quickly.

Canonization and Feast Day

Martin-Luc Huin was beatified in 1968 and canonized in 1984 by Pope John Paul II among the 103 Martyrs of Korea, canonized together in Seoul. His feast is kept on September 20 with the other Korean martyrs.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

His short missionary career, cut off within a few years by martyrdom, reminds believers that faithful service does not require a long life to be complete; what mattered was the totality of the gift, not its duration.

A Prayer to Saint Martin-Luc Huin

Saint Martin-Luc Huin, young missionary who gave your whole life for the Church in Korea, intercede for missionaries who serve today in difficult and dangerous places. Give them your courage and your readiness to give everything, however short the time allotted. Amen.

Sources

• Vatican.va (canonization of the Korean Martyrs, 1984)
• Missions Étrangères de Paris (archives)
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia