The Catholic Times editorial offers some interesting insights into foreigners visiting the Holy Sites.
Korea has a long history of contact with the West. The Spanish Jesuit priest Gregorio Cespedes was the first priest in Korea who came with the Japanese troops in 1593. However, Catholicism is considered to have started in1784 when Yi Seung-hun (Peter) was baptized in China and returned to Korea to baptize his fellow Koreans.
The number of foreigners visiting the holy sites of the Korean Church is increasing. In 2025, the number of foreign pilgrims visiting holy sites in the Archdiocese of Seoul exceeded 380,000, and attendance at holy mass also increased by 11% compared to the previous year.
It is timely that holy sites across the country are preparing to welcome foreign pilgrims by organizing multilingual guides and expanding digital content. However, the essential question is how to elevate the martyrdom spirituality of the Korean Church into universal values that people around the world can relate to.
Content such as 'K-pop ' has garnered enthusiastic responses worldwide by combining traditional Korean elements. This is an example of how uniquely Korean characteristics can be highly persuasive.
Pilgrimages to holy sites can follow a similar dynamic flow as this 'K-Culture.' When a holy site, which preserves the dramatic lives of martyrs and their journeys of faith, is connected to the vibrant presence of the Korean Church, it can become a more attractive and profound spiritual experience for foreign pilgrims.
During his 2014 visit to Korea, Pope Francis emphasized, “The legacy of the Korean martyrs provides hope and unity not only to the faithful here but to everyone.” As the Pope remarked, the devotion and spirituality of the Korean martyrs are not relics of the past, but embody essential values of equality, sacrifice, and human dignity that are deeply relevant to our society today.
The lives of our forebears who testified to their faith just over 200 years ago can approach pilgrims from around the world not as 'stories of a distant land,' but as 'living models of faith.' It is time to carefully prepare a welcoming environment where every pilgrim can experience Christ’s love through the spirit of the Korean martyrs.
