Vatican Greenlights Beatification Process for Korean Monastic Pioneer
Seoul, South Korea – The Vatican has officially approved โthe opening ofโค the cause for beatification โof Father Bang Yu-ryong, a Korean priest credited with establishing the โคfirst native religious orders for โขmen and women in the country. The announcementโข signals a โnotable step toward potential sainthood for the priest who profoundly shaped Korean Catholic monasticโ life.
Born March 6, 1900, Father Bang Yu-ryong dedicated โคhis life to โfostering a uniquely Korean expression ofโ religious life within the Catholic Church. Ordained in 1930,he served as a โparish priestโข in Hwanghae โฃProvince from 1933,where he implemented progressive pastoral โฃchanges,including ending the segregation of boys and girls in church,introducing the first organ,and establishing a youth choir.
Following Korean independence fromโ Japanese rule in 1946, andโฃ coincidingโข with the 100th anniversaryโ of the martyrdom of St. Andrew Kim, Father Bang Yu-ryong, alongside two religious sisters, founded the Sisters of the Blessed korean Martyrsโค – the โขfirst Korean women’s congregation. He envisioned the order embodying theโข spirit of โคthe Korean martyrs, whom he called “ancestors in the faith,” withโ a charism focused on “spreading the Gospel in a spirit of fraternal love and martyrdom, for the glory of God and the sanctification of it’s members.”
Official approval from the Holyโ See for the โSisters’ congregation came on December 12,1951.โค Father Bang โYu-ryong continued his work, founding the maleโ congregation of the Blessedโ Korean Martyrs on Octoberโฃ 30,โ 1953, marking the first native male religious order in Korea. He further expanded opportunities for consecrated life by establishing a โฃthird order โฃfor laymen in 1957 and the Society of the โขSisters ofโ the Palm of the Korean Martyrs for married โand widowed women in 1962.
father Bang Yu-ryong professed perpetual vows in the congregation he foundedโฃ on May 6, 1957, and โฃdevoted the remainder of his life to strengthening his spiritualโ family. He passed away on January 24, 1986.
The Archdiocese of Seoul is concurrently pursuingโข the beatification of Bishop Barthelemy Bruguiรจre, the first apostolic vicar of Korea, โand Cardinal Stephen Kim sou-hwan, the first Korean cardinal. These efforts reflect a growing movement toโ recognize the contributions of โkey figures in theโค development โขof the Catholic Church in Korea.
