A sixty-two-year-old catechist, the oldest of the Byeongin martyrs from Boryeong in Chungcheong-do, killed there in March 1866.

Iosephus Chang Chu-gi was a lay catechist of Korea, executed at Galmaemot in Boryeong, Chungcheong-do, on 30 March 1866 at sixty-two years old, in the early months of the Byeongin persecution. He is one of the 103 Martyrs of Korea canonized in 1984.

Quick Facts

• Died: 30 March 1866, Galmaemot, Boryeong, Chungcheong-do, Korea (age 62)
• Feast Day: 20 September (with the 103 Martyrs of Korea)
• Beatified: 1968
• Canonized: 6 May 1984

Who Was Saint Iosephus Chang Chu-gi?

As an elder catechist in Chungcheong-do, Chang Chu-gi had likely spent much of his life teaching the faith to others in that region before the Byeongin persecution reached his community and demanded of him the same fidelity he had spent decades instilling.

Historical Setting

Heungseon Daewongun’s regency launched the Byeongin persecution in 1866, a campaign against Korea’s Catholic community that would, before it ended, kill thousands of believers nationwide, from French missionary bishops down to ordinary rural catechists.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Iosephus Chang Chu-gi

The Church remembers Chang Chu-gi as an elder teacher of the faith who was among the first struck down in Chungcheong-do, his decades of quiet instruction ending in the same martyrdom he must have prepared countless others to face.

Canonization and Feast Day

Pope Paul VI beatified Chang Chu-gi in 1968 among the second wave of Korean martyrs so honored; John Paul II’s canonization followed on 6 May 1984 in Seoul, placing him among the 103 Martyrs of Korea and their 20 September feast.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

A catechist who teaches others how to hold firm under pressure is eventually tested by that same pressure himself. Chang Chu-gi’s witness asks whether those who teach the faith today truly live what they hand on.

A Prayer to Saint Iosephus Chang Chu-gi

Saint Iosephus Chang Chu-gi, elder catechist of Chungcheong-do who lived what you taught, pray for teachers of the faith, that their own lives may match their instruction. Amen.

Sources

• Butler’s Lives of the Saints, revised edition, entry for the Martyrs of Korea
• Vatican.va, canonization homily of Pope John Paul II, 6 May 1984, Seoul
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, background on the Gihae and Byeongo persecutions