Summary of the pilgrimage in Jeju. <Kim Gi-ryang-Ro>
The pilgrimage road of Kim Gi-ryang
This route starts from Jocheon catholic church passing through Hamdeok village and ends at Kim Gi-ryang Martyr's Memorial Hall.
While you are walking this route you can see beautiful coastal road.
Jeju island’s first Catholic martyr, Felix Peter Kim Gi-ryang was born in a Buddhist middle-class family on Jeju island in 1816.
He went on to become a businessman and traveled from one place to another by ship. During a sea voyage in February 1857, his vessel was caught by strong winds and waves.
A British ship rescued him and his fellow mariners. However, all except Kim died due to extreme exhaustion. Kim was sent to missionaries from the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) in Hong Kong,
where he received training in catechism.
He was baptized on May 31, 1857, by Father J.J. Rousseille, the MEP vice-superior in Hong Kong.
He took the Christian names Felix and Peter and returned to Korea. Back home, Kim met with Catholic missionaries and became a close associate of Father Thomas Choe,
who assigned him to evangelize and offer catechism classes to communities and seafarers on Jeju.
Catholics in Korea were facing persecution unleashed by the staunchly Buddhist rulers of the Joseon dynasty.
In 1866, thousands of Korean Catholics were massacred for refusing to renounce their faith.
In 2001, the beatification committee of Roman Catholic Diocese of Jeju worked for beutification of Felix Peter Kim Gi-ryang.
His Memorial Stones for The Martyred were set up at Jocheon catholic church in January 2003 and in his hometown Hamdeok in April 2005.
On 10th September 2006, there was belief rally of Felix Peter Kim Gi-ryang martyrdom140th anniversary.
Catholics looked back on his great life and testimony of Christian faith and they had been praying for his beatification since November 2007. Eventually, Felix Peter Kim Gi-ryang was beatified on 16th August 2014.
