SPOTLIGHT 26/03/30 Sainthood cause for Korea's ‘martyr of sweat’ advances

[성기화 요셉]

Medical panel confirm‎s healings linked to Father Choe Yang-eop, moving him closer to beatification

A statue of Father Choi Yang-eop at the Baeti Shrine, in Cheongju diocese, South Korea. (Photo: Catholic Times of Korea)

By UCA News reporter

Published: April 02, 2026 05:34 AM GMT

Updated: April 02, 2026 06:55 AM GMT

The sainthood cause of a 19th-century Korean priest, Venerable Thomas Choe Yang-eop, known for his extraordinary evangelization efforts, has advanced following the Vatican’s recognition of miracles attributed to his intercession.

The Medical Advisory Committee of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints confirmed the healings, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) stated in a March 30 statement.

With the recognition of miracles, the case of the Venerable Thomas Choe now advances to the next step of beatification, the final stage in the long canonization process.

The local Church is now waiting for Pope Leo to approve the miracles before he can set a date to beatify the Venerable.

At the committee’s review on March 26, seven medical experts acknowledged “after lengthy discussions, that the submitted cases were miraculous healings achieved through the intercession of Father Choe Yang-eop,” the statement said.

Thomas Choe (1821–1861) is the second Korean priest on the path to sainthood after St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, the first native Korean priest, who was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

The recognition comes 30 years after the Diocese of Cheongju opened his cause for canonization in 1996, and a decade after Pope Francis declared him Venerable on April 26, 2016.

The miracles attributed to Venerable Choe are the first recorded instances in the history of the Korean Church, since other sainthood cases involved martyrs.

In cases of canonization where individuals are declared martyrs, the Church does not require miracles attributed to their intercession. 

In May 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized Andrew Kim Tae-gon along with 102 Korean martyrs. In 2014, Pope Francis beatified 124 Korean martyrs.

Bishop Simon Kim Jong-kang, chairman of the bishops’ Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization, urged Korean Catholics to keep praying “until Father Choe Yang-eop is declared a Blessed.”

Father Choe Yang- eop is often referred to as a “shepherd on the road” and a “martyr of sweat.”

Born in March 1821, in Cheongyang, in South Chungcheong Province, he was one of the first seminarians of the Korean Church along with Andrew Kim Tae-geon and Francis Xavier Choi Bang-je in 1836. They left for Macau in December that year to study at a seminary.

In December 1844, he and Kim were ordained deacons. Kim was martyred one year after his ordination and returned to Korea in 1846.

Then, a deacon, Venerable Thomas Choe, was ordained a priest at Shanghai Cathedral in China on April 15, 1849, and returned to his homeland in December of the same year.

In Korea, he visited more than 120 Catholic villages, traveling 2,800 kilometers every year for 12 consecutive years, to strengthen people's faith despite persecution by the country’s rulers, Church records show.

He became weak due to overwork, contracted typhoid, and died on June 15, 1861, aged 40.

His parents embraced martyrdom during the 19th-century persecution in Korea. His father, Francis Choe Gyeong-hwan, was martyred in 1839 and was declared a saint in 1984. His mother, Maria Lee Seong-rye, was declared Blessed in 2014.

This report is a translated and edited version of a Korean-language article first published by the Catholic Times of Korea on March 30, 2026.