Rome, Italy, Dec 15, 2003 / 22:00 pm
This week the Holy See approved the opening of the cause for beatification of Paul Yun Ji-Chung and 123 companions, who were tortured and killed for their faith in 1791, when Christianity was being introduced in Korea.
According the Fides news agency, the announcement was made by the Korean Bishops Committee for Beatification and Canonization, which made public the null osta of the Holy See for the opening of the process.
The Committee has named a panel of experts in history that will serve in a consulting capacity. The panel will be lead by Andrea Kim Jin-so, director of the Historical Research Center of Honam, Korea.
In 1791, Paul Yun Ji-Chung, a convert to Christianity and member of a Korean noble family, refused to bury his deceased mother according to the traditional rite of Confucianism, which resulted in an investigation by authorities and a persecution of many Christians, which came to be known as the Sin-hae persecution.