Biographies of Missionaries

Biographies of the Missionaries most often mentioned in Korean Church history

These texts are translations of slightly abridged versions of the biographies found on the IRFA website, of which they retain the spelling of place names.

1. Korea

(Saint) AUMAÎTRE, Pierre. Originally from Aizecq (Charente), he was born on April 8, 1837. After studying at the minor seminary of Richemont and the major seminary of Angoulême, he entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions as a minor on August 18, 1859. Promoted to the priesthood on June 14, 1862, he left on August 18 for Korea, where he was not able to enter until June 1863. He stayed a month in Seoul, with Bishop Berneux, and began to study the language. In September 1864, he was put in charge of a district in the province of Gyeonggi. He was in Sai-am-kol when the persecution of 1886 broke out; having surrendered to prevent mistreatment of his Christians, he was taken to Seoul and thrown into prison. He confessed the faith under torture, was condemned to death and beheaded on March 30, 1866, in Syou-yeng, province of Chungcheong, with Bishop Daveluy and the missionary M.-L. Huin. He was beatified on October 6, 1968 and canonized on May 6, 1984. The relics of the canonized 1866 martyrs are now enshrined in the crypt of the church at Jeoldusan (Seoul).

(Saint) BEAULIEU, Bernard-Louis was born on October 8, 1840, in Langon (Gironde). He studied at the minor seminary of Bordeaux, and arrived as a deacon at the Seminary of Foreign Missions on August 28, 1863. Ordained a priest on May 21, 1864, he left for Korea on July 15. At the beginning of November he arrived in Manchuria, in Tcha-keou (Notre-Dame-des-Neiges). On May 27, 1865, he entered Korea, and in June, he went to study the language in a village near Seoul. At the beginning of 1866, he was put in charge of a small district a few leagues from the capital, when the persecution broke out. He was denounced by his servant, arrested and taken to Seoul. Thrown into prison, he found his bishop, Bishop Berneux, and two missionaries, Fathers Dorie and Bretenières. On March 8, 1866, he was taken to Saenam-teo, a short distance from Seoul, with the three other apostles; he was beheaded after the bishop and Father de Bretenières. The relics of the canonized 1866 martyrs are now enshrined in the crypt of the church at Jeoldusan (Seoul).

(Saint) BERNEUX, Siméon-François was born on May 14, 1814 in Château-du-Loir (Sarthe), studied at the college of his native town, then at that of Le Mans, and finally at the minor seminary of Précigné and the major seminary of Le Mans. He was ordained a priest on May 20, 1837, and then taught philosophy at the major seminary of his diocese. He entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on July 15, 1839, and left on January 15, 1840 for Western Tongking, where he arrived in January 1841. Barely settled in Phuc-nhac, he was arrested on April 11, taken to Hué, and imprisoned with four missionaries and, like them, sentenced to suspended death. It was only in March 1843 that the five priests regained their freedom, thanks to the energetic intervention of Commander Favin-Lévêque, commander of the corvette Héroïne. This officer wanted to take them back to France, but, having arrived at Bourbon Island, Father Berneux obtained permission to go to Macao. Two months after his arrival in this city, he left for the mission in Manchuria; he was there in March 1844. He studied the language in Leaotong, with Bishop Verrolles, whose work he shared, and whose provicar he became in 1849. In 1854, he was chosen as coadjutor by Bishop Verrolles, who was preparing to consecrate him Bishop of Trémite. However, Bishop Ferréol, Apostolic Vicar of Korea, based on a brief of March 22, 1844, had named him coadjutor; however, he died shortly afterwards, on February 3, 1853. Transmitted to Rome, Bishop Ferréol's wish was ratified, and Father Berneux was named Bishop of Capsus and Apostolic Vicar of Korea. These briefs reached him three days before he was consecrated Bishop of Trémite; he was therefore consecrated Bishop of Capsus on December 27, 1854, in Cha-ling. He set off on January 17, 1855 via Shanghai. In March 1856 he arrived in Seoul and began studying Korean. In November, he began visiting his Christians. A seminary was established. Two printing presses were installed. In 1857 he appointed Father Daveluy as coadjutor and consecrated him before convening his priests in synod. On February 23, 1866, the bishop was arrested and thrown into prison; three missionaries, Fathers Bretenières, Beaulieu and Dorie, soon joined him. They were beheaded at Saenam-teo, a league from Seoul, on March 8, 1866. His body, initially buried at the place of execution, was exhumed five months later by the Christians who took it half a league south of Seoul, at Oigo-gai Mountain. On October 30, 1899, his remains were transferred to the seminary in Yongsan, then to the cathedral of Seoul, as well as those of Bishop Daveluy, Fathers Aumaître, Beaulieu, Dorie, Huin, Petitnicolas and Pourthié. He was beatified on October 6, 1968 and canonized on May 6, 1984. The relics of the canonized 1866 martyrs are now enshrined in the crypt of the church at Jeoldusan (Seoul).

(Saint) RANFER DE BRETENIERES, Simon-Marie-Antoine-Just, was born in the parish of Saint-Pierre in Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire) on February 28, 1838. After beginning his philosophical and theological studies at the seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Issy, he entered the tonsure at the Seminary of Foreign Missions on July 25, 1861. He received priestly ordination on May 21, 1864. On July 15, 1864, he left for Korea; in November, he settled in Manchuria. On May 27, 1865, he managed to enter his mission. Arrested on February 25, 1866 in Seoul, he was imprisoned. He was beheaded on March 8, 1866, in Saenam-teo, not far from Seoul. His body, with those of Bishop Berneux and Fathers Beaulieu and Dorie remained exposed for three days, then were buried in the sand. Around August of the same year, with those of Fathers Pourthié and Petitnicolas, martyred on March 11, 1866, they were buried on the mountain called Oai-ko-kai, half a league from Seoul. On October 30, 1899, all were exhumed, and temporarily taken to the Yong-san seminary. On September 10, 1900, they were placed in the crypt of Seoul Cathedral. However, the body of Father de Bretenières was brought back to France in 1911. He was beatified on October 6, 1968 and canonized on May 6, 1984.

BRUGUIÈRE, Barthélemy was born on February 12, 1792 in Raissac d’Aude in the department of the same name. He studied in Narbonne. He completed his theological studies at the major seminary of Carcassonne and received his priestly ordination on December 23. He was very quickly appointed professor in this establishment where he taught philosophy for four years, then theology. Having entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on September 17, 1825, he left for Siam on February 5, 1826.
While studying the language of the country, he took care of the seminary in Bangkok and as soon as he could make himself understood, he added the exercise of the ministry to teaching. By virtue of a brief of February 5, 1828, his bishop, Mgr E. Florens, having chosen him in 1829 as coadjutor, he received the title of Bishop of Capsus. Consecrated on June 29 of the same year in Bangkok, he settled on the island of Penang.
Knowing that Korea had been without a priest for a long time, Mgr Bruguière offered to devote himself there. The Holy See accepted and a brief entrusted him with Korea on September 9, 1831, which another brief dated the same day erected into an Apostolic Vicariate. As soon as he learned of Gregory XVI's decision, he made his preparations for departure and set sail on September 12 to reach his new Mission, which was soon formally accepted by the Society of Foreign Missions. From Macao, he went to Fujian and, at the cost of much fatigue and through a thousand perils, went to Tartary. On October 8, 1834, he was in Sivang where one of his missionaries, Father P. Maubant, was waiting for him. He still had more than one ordeal to undergo and he had to exchange many messages to convince the Koreans to receive him, because a Chinese priest there had urged them to refuse any French missionary, on the pretext that the presence of one of them would provoke persecutions. His ignorance of the Chinese language and customs further accentuated the difficulties of his journey. Nevertheless, the last obstacles were finally smoothed out and he left Sivang on October 7, 1835 to go to Manchuria. But he was exhausted and, on the 20th of the same month, he succumbed in Pie-li-keou. His mortal remains were buried on the southern slope of the nearby mountain. In 1931, the centenary of the erection of Korea into an Apostolic Vicariate, his remains were exhumed and now rest in the missionary cemetery in Yongsan, Seoul. Since 2024, the Archdiocese of Seoul has opened a beatification process.

CALAIS, Adolphe-Nicolas was born on August 3, 1833 in Crion (Meurthe-et-Moselle). He entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions in minor orders on July 23, 1858, received the priesthood on June 2, 1860, and was sent to Korea on the following July 25. He managed to enter his mission by sea in 1861, in the company of Messrs. Landre, Joanno and Ridel. Their junk left Chefu on March 19, and on the 28th it was accosted by the boat of Korean Christians who took them to Seoul.
During the persecution of 1866, he was able to escape. At the beginning of October, he went to China with Father Féron. In 1867 he went to Manchuria and tried, without success, to return to Korea. He left the mission and the Foreign Missions Society in 1870 to enter the Grande Trappe, in Soligny (Orne). He was appointed, in February 1884, chaplain of the Trappistines in Maubec, Montélimar (Drôme), where he died on May 22 of the same year.

(Saint) CHASTAN, Jacques-Honoré was born in Marcoux (Basses-Alpes), on October 7, 1803. He began his studies at Brusquet, continued them at the minor seminary of Embrun, and completed them at the major seminary of Digne. After his priestly ordination, which took place on December 23, 1826, he entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on January 13, 1827. On the following April 22, he was sent to Macao, leaving Baroudel, the procurator of Foreign Missions in this city, to take care of his destination. As soon as he landed, he asked to be sent to Korea: his desire was not immediately fulfilled. He was appointed professor at the General College in Pinang.
When Bishop Bruguière left for Korea, he proposed himself to the bishop who accepted him. In May 1833, he returned to Macao, from where he embarked in September for Fokien, and through China and Manchuria reached the Korean frontier; but, meeting no one to introduce him, he retired to Peking. While waiting for a favorable opportunity, he agreed to exercise the ministry in Changtong, and for two years he administered a district of this province.
At the end of 1836, he returned to the Korean frontier, and waited at Pien-men for the Christians who were to come and help him to penetrate his mission, which, for all, was forbidden under penalty of death. On December 31, he succeeded in eluding the surveillance of the customs officers under cover of a dark night, and on January 15, 1837, he reached Seoul. He studied the language there, and after Easter, went to visit some Christian communities in the neighboring provinces. In 1838, he administered the stations in the south, and sent a catechist to the Ryukyu islands. The following year, a violent persecution having broken out, his bishop, Mgr Imbert, already arrested, urged him to surrender himself to the satellites, in order to avoid torture of the faithful; he obeyed immediately, joined the other missionary, Fr. Maubant, and on September 6, both gave themselves up as prisoners, after having written a very beautiful farewell letter to all the members of the Society of Foreign Missions. Taken to the capital, they were imprisoned with Imbert, cruelly beaten, and condemned to death with him. Fr. Chastan was beheaded on September 21, 1839, at Saenam-teo near Seoul. His remains and those of the two other martyrs remained exposed for three days; then they were summarily buried in the sand of the place of execution, and, in 1843, transferred to the mountain called Samseong-san. and, in 1843, transferred to the mountain called Samseong-san. Since 1903 he has been resting, together with Bishop Imbert and Fr. Maubant, in the crypt of Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul. The cause of beatification was introduced by a decree dated September 24, 1857. He was beatified on July 5, 1925 and canonized on May 6, 1984.

(Saint) DORIE, Pierre-Henri was born on September 23, 1839 in Saint-Hilaire-de-Talmont (Vendée). A student at the minor seminary of Sables-d'Olonne and the major seminary of Luçon, he entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on August 23, 1862. He was ordained a priest on May 21, 1864. Destined for the mission in Korea, he left on the following July 15. Towards the end of November 1864, he began studying the language in the Christian community of Sioung-io, near Yang-kouan in Manchuria. He remained there until April 1865, when he was able to enter Korea. He was beginning to exert a happy influence in his position, when persecution broke out in February 1866. On the 27th of that month, he was arrested, sentenced to death, and suffered beheading on March 8, 1866, in Saenam-teo. The relics of the canonized 1866 martyrs are now enshrined in the crypt of the church at Jeoldusan (Seoul).

FÉRON, Stanislas was born on February 22, 1827 in the parish of Saint-Julien in Domfront (Orne). A student at the minor and major seminary of Sées, ordained a priest on December 21, 1850, he was first a vicar in Flers and Argentan. He entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on October 14, 1854 and left on January 23, 1856 for the Korean Mission. After a fourteen-month journey, he arrived at his destination the day after the Synod of 1857 ended. In March 1866, persecution raged and the two bishops were executed with seven priests. Fr. Féron then became head of the Mission for a time by right of seniority. With Frs. Calais and Ridel, he managed to escape the searches and took refuge in Shanghai. Shortly afterwards, he escaped and left again to evangelize Korea again. His attempt was unsuccessful. In 1870, he joined the Apostolic Vicariate of Pondicherry, was a missionary in Viriur where he built a very beautiful church and a presbytery. He also directed the district of Erayur from 1883 to 1895 and built a presbytery there; he also built part of the church of Iroudeiapally. These constructions were done almost entirely at his own expense. He returned to Korea in 1900 to testify in the Apostolic Processes conducted for the Beatification of the Martyrs of 1866. He died in Viriur on June 3, 1903.

FERRÉOL, Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste was born in Cucuron (Vaucluse) on December 27, 1808. He had been a priest for several years when he presented himself at the Seminary of Foreign Missions on September 23, 1838. He was destined for Korea, and left for Macao on April 28, 1839. After escaping the pirates, he landed in the Fokien in the spring of 1840, and arrived safely at Sivang, in Tartary. He then headed for Moukden, and the Christians of Leaotong having refused to receive him, for fear of persecution, he withdrew to Mongolia. It was there that he was given the briefs by virtue of which he was named Bishop of Belline and coadjutor of the Apostolic Vicar of Korea and Ryukyu with future succession. This apostolic vicar, Imbert, had died a martyr in 1839 but the news remained unknown. Ferréol was consecrated at Yang-kouan on December 31, 1843 by Bishop Verrolles. At the end of July 1845, he went to Shanghai, ordained the Korean André Kim, martyr in 1846, as a priest, and embarked with him and M. Daveluy for Korea. On October 12, after having weathered a storm, he was finally able to land. From there, he went to Seoul, and began the administration of the Christians. From 1847 to 1850, the bishop contributed greatly to increasing the number of Christians. He devoted the time of the great heat to translating or correcting books for the instruction of the Christians. In 1851, his strength declined; however, he continued his journeys as long as he could stand. When he was exhausted, he returned to Seoul; he died there on February 3, 1853. He was buried in the province of Gyeonggi, in Mirinae, near (Saint) André Kim.

(Saint) HUIN, Martin-Luc was born on October 20, 1836 in Guyonvelle (Haute-Marne). After his priestly ordination on June 29, 1861, he left as a vicar in Melay and Voisey. He entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on August 20, 1863, and left for Korea on July 15, 1864. From Shanghai, he went to Leao-tong, and ended the year there by studying Chinese characters. In 1865, at the beginning of June, he entered Korea by sea. The following year, during the persecution, he was arrested. On March 12, he was taken to join Bishop Daveluy, then taken to Seoul with the bishop and Father Aumaître. Thrown into prison with them, he was sentenced to be beheaded. The execution took place on Good Friday, March 30, 1866, on the Syou-yeng peninsula, Chungcheong province. In June, the body was removed by some Christians, who buried it in the Hong-san district. The relics of the canonized 1866 martyrs are now enshrined in the crypt of the church at Jeoldusan (Seoul).

(Saint) IMBERT, Laurent-Joseph-Marius was born on March 23, 1796, in the Bricart farm, in Marignane (Bouches-du-Rhône). His parents lived in the hamlet of Callas, commune of Cabriès, in the same department. He studied in Aix, at the boarding school of the Retraite chrétienne. After a stay of a few years at the major seminary of Aix, he entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on October 8, 1818.
On December 18, 1819 he was ordained a priest. He left for Sichuan on March 20, 1820. He stayed for some time in Singapore, and seems to have been the first missionary in charge of the Catholics of this city. Arriving in Pinang, he was asked to replace a sick professor at the General College: he stayed there nine months. When, on February 10, 1822, he arrived in Macao, the direct route to Sichuan was closed; he went to Cochinchina and stayed two years in Tongking, where he administered some Christian communities. It was only in March 1825 that he was able to reach his mission by way of Yun-nan. He stayed twelve years in Sichuan. Having learned that Propaganda was proposing Korea to the Foreign Missions, he immediately offered to collaborate in the evangelization of this region. His assistance was not immediately accepted, but, after the death of Bishop Bruguière, Rome chose him to replace this prelate. Appointed apostolic vicar and bishop of Capsus on April 26, 1836, he was consecrated on May 14, 1837. On August 17, he left Sichuan, and at the end of October arrived at Sivang in Tartary, reached Moukden from there, and on the night of December 18, 1837 successfully crossed the Korean border. On the 30th, he was in Seoul where he learned the language, and, three months later, he was in a condition to hear confessions. In June 1839 he took refuge in a safe retreat that had been prepared for him. However, a traitor, Kim Ie-saing-i, managed to discover it. Bishop Imbert, having learned of it, preferred to give himself up, in the hope of avoiding greater misfortunes for his Christians. On August 11, he was taken to Seoul where he was imprisoned. Convinced that the persecution would calm down with the arrest of all the missionaries, Bishop Imbert wrote a note to Fathers Chastan and Maubant: "The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep; if you have not yet left by boat, come with the mandarin Son-kie-tsong, but let no Christian accompany you." He was obeyed.
A few days later, the three apostles appeared together before the judge, and were condemned to beheading. The martyrdom of Bishop Imbert and his fellow prisoners took place on September 21, 1839, in Saenam-teo, not far from Seoul. Around mid-October, the bodies were removed and buried on Nogo-san Mountain. Later, these remains were transferred to Samseong Mountain. On October 21, 1901, his tomb was opened and his bones were found mixed with those of Fathers Maubant and Chastan. Fathers Maubant and Chastan; their remains were brought to the Yongsan seminary. Since 1903 he has been resting, together with Fathers Maubant and Chastan, in the crypt of Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul. The decree introducing his Cause of Beatification is dated September 24, 1857. Bishop Imbert was beatified on July 5, 1925 and canonized on May 6, 1984.

JANSOU, François-Stanislas, was born on November 15, 1826 in Ambres (Tarn), entered the Seminary of the M.-E. as a deacon on December 30, 1849, was ordained a priest on March 25, 1850, and left for Korea on February 27, 1851. Having been unable to enter, he returned to the Hong Kong procuratorial house. In March 1854, he renewed his attempt, and this time succeeded. A Chinese junk took him near an island where he found Korean Christians; shortly after, he arrived in Seoul. There he was soon struck down with brain fever from which he did not recover. He died on June 18, 1854, in Pong-tchyen, province of Kyeng-keui.

JOANNO, Pierre-Marie, born February 9, 1832 in Mellionnec (Côtes-du-Nord), tonsured at the seminary of the Foreign Missions Society on January 3, 1856, was ordained priest on December 19, 1857, and left for Korea on March 21, 1858. After two unsuccessful attempts in 1859 and 1860, he succeeded in entering his mission in 1861, but barely two years had passed when he was taken by consumption on April 13, 1863.

LANDRE, Jean-Marie-Pierre-Eliacin, born January 5, 1828 in Montreal (Gers), was ordained a priest in Auch on December 17, 1853. He entered the Seminary of the Foreign Missions Society on October 5, 1856, and left for Korea on March 21, 1858. It was only in 1861 that he succeeded in entering his mission. In the spring of 1863, he fell seriously ill, and on the following September 15, he died.

MAISTRE, Joseph-Ambroise, born September 19, 1808 in Entremont (Haute-Savoie), began his studies at the college of Thônes. He received the priesthood on June 16, 1832, and was then appointed vicar in Ugine where he remained until his entry into the Seminary of Foreign Missions, on June 8, 1839. He left on January 15, 1840 for the Macao procuratorial house, and fulfilled the functions of deputy procurator, while instructing some Chinese and Korean seminarians. In February 1842, at his insistence, Libois, the procurator, let him leave for Korea. For nearly ten years he multiplied his attempts to enter this country, sometimes by sea, sometimes by land. Finally, in 1852, he landed in Korea on August 29 and went to Seoul. Having been appointed provicar by Bishop Ferréol during his stay in China, he became, after the latter's death on 3 February 1853, interim superior of the mission until the appointment of a new apostolic vicar. After the arrival of Bishop Berneux, appointed apostolic vicar in 1854, Maistre remained as provicar. In 1855, he established the seminary in Baeron, province of Chungcheong. He died on December 20, 1857, in this province, in the village of Hoang-mou-sil, which he had just begun to administer. His body was buried on the summit of the neighboring mountain.

(Saint) MAUBANT, Pierre-Philibert came into the world in Vassy (Calvados) on September 20, 1803. He did his classical studies at the college of Vire. After his priestly ordination, which took place on May 13, 1829, he was vicar at Gast, and as soon as his bishop authorized him, he requested admission to the Seminary of Foreign Missions where he arrived on November 18, 1831. He left for Macao on March 5, 1832. He was to go to Sichuan; but, during his journey, he met Bishop Bruguière and offered to accompany him to Korea. Accepted by the bishop, he went from Fokien to Peking, and from there to Siwang, in Tartary. He remained in this Christian community for nearly a year, and studied Chinese there. After the death of Bishop Bruguière, he reached the Korean border guided by five Christians, crossed it fortunately, and, at the beginning of the year 1836, he settled in Seoul. While studying the language, he had to exercise the ministry immediately, because of the eagerness of the faithful to ask for the sacraments. The same year, after Easter, he visited several groups of faithful in the provinces of Gyeonggi and Chungcheong; he established some catechists there and baptized more than 200 adults. In January 1837, he was joined in Seoul by Father Chastan, and resumed, after a serious illness, his apostolic journeys. It was on him that the general administration of the mission rested until the arrival of Bishop Imbert, on December 30, 1837.
In 1839 a general persecution arose. To avoid greater misfortunes for his vicariate, Bishop Imbert, already arrested, invited Maubant and Chastan to surrender themselves to the mandarins. The two missionaries obeyed, and after having written a letter to all the members of the Foreign Missions Society on September 6, they went to surrender themselves, not far from the city of Hongju where they were chained. With his companion, Maubant was taken to Seoul, interrogated and tortured. Condemned to death like Imbert and Chastan, like them he was beheaded on September 21, 1839, at Saenam-teo.
About twenty days later, the three bodies of the martyrs were buried by the Christians on the mountain of Nogo-san, and in 1843 on the Samseong mountain, 30 lys from Seoul, in the mountain called Gwanak-san, in the district of Siheung. On October 21, 1901, they were temporarily transferred to the Yongsan seminary. On October 21, 1901, the remains were temporarily transferred to the Yongsan seminary. Since 1903 he has been resting, together with Bishop Imbert and Fr. Chastan, in the crypt of Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul. The decree introducing his Cause of Beatification is dated September 24, 1857. He was beatified on July 5, 1925 and canonized on May 6, 1984.

PETITNICOLAS, Michel-Alexandre was born on August 21, 1828 in Coinches in the Vosges department. He studied humanities at the minor seminary of Châtel-sur-Moselle, then entered the major seminary of Saint-Dié. He presented himself as a subdeacon at the Seminary of Foreign Missions on January 20, 1850, but falling ill he was forced to leave on October 2. Ordained a priest in his diocese on June 5, 1852, he was appointed vicar at Laveline. He stayed there for a year and presented himself again at the Seminary of Foreign Missions on June 17, 1853. He left on August 20 for the mission of Pondicherry. His health, rapidly and profoundly impaired by the heat of India, forced him in 1855 to seek a more temperate country. He was then sent to Hong Kong where, at the request of Bishop Berneux, he agreed to accompany him to Korea in 1856.
Settled in the province of Chungcheong, he learned Korean and committed himself to his apostolate. At the end of 1858, he found himself in charge of a large district. The illness from which he had suffered in India struck him again and influenced his character. In 1862, he was sent to the seminary of Baeron, where Father Pourthié was the superior. He began the composition of a Latin-Korean dictionary as well as a grammar. At the beginning of the great persecution of 1866, he was arrested on March 2 in Baeron with Father Pourthié. He was beheaded at Saenam-teo on the following March 11 or 12. His body, buried at the place of execution, was exhumed in August by the Christians, who buried it on the Oigo-gae mountain half a league from Seoul. On October 30, 1899, he was exhumed a second time and kept at the Yongsan seminary. In September 1900, his remains were buried in the crypt of the cathedral of Seoul together with those of Fr. Pourthié and the three canonized missionaries martyred in 1839. He was not beatified.

POURTHIÉ, Jean (Charles?)-Antoine was born on December 20, 1830 in the hamlet of Ladoudié in the commune of Dourn in the Tarn. Ordained a priest on June 11, 1854, he entered the seminary of Foreign Missions shortly after, on July 1, and left for China on June 27, 1855. When he arrived there, he was sent to Korea. He entered in 1856 with Bishop Berneux and Father Petitnicolas. He was simultaneously responsible for directing the Saint Joseph seminary established in Baeron in the province of Gangwon and for administering the neighboring Christian community. During the persecution of 1866, arrested with Father Petitnicolas on March 2, taken to Seoul and imprisoned with his companion, he was beheaded in Saenam-teo, not far from Seoul, on March 11, 1866. His remains, buried at the place of execution, were removed the following August by the Christians and buried on Oigo-gae mountain half a league from Seoul. Exhumed on October 30, 1899, kept at the Yongsan seminary until 1900, they were in September of that same year, placed in the crypt of Seoul Cathedral with those of Fr. Petitnicolas and the three canonized missionaries martyred in 1839. He was not beatified.

RIDEL, Félix-Clair was born on July 7 or 10, 1830, in the parish of Saint-Martin, in Chantenay-sur-Loire (Loire-Inférieure). He studied at the ecclesiastical college of Couëts (1843-1847), at the major seminary of Nantes, then at Saint-Sulpice, in Paris, where he received the priesthood on December 19, 1857. He entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on July 29, 1859. On July 25, 1860, he left for Korea. On March 31, 1861, he entered; he studied the language, then settled in Tsin-pat. In 1862, he administered the district of Naï-hpo, then returned to that of Tsin-pat. In 1864, he evangelized the provinces of Kieng-siang and Tjyen-la. In 1866, when the persecution broke out, Father Ridel managed to go to Shanghai, in order to make these sad events known. In September and October of the same year, he accompanied, as an interpreter, the French squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Roze which threatened Korea. This expedition did not obtain the desired results, he had to wait for better times to return to his mission. On April 27, 1869, he was named Bishop of Philippopolis and Apostolic Vicar of Korea; he attended the Vatican Council and was consecrated in Rome, on June 5, 1870, by Cardinal de Bonnechose. Back in China, he settled in Manchuria at Tcha-keou (N.-D. des Neiges), the residence closest to the Korean border. Several times he tried to cross this border; his efforts were not successful until September 1877. He had barely begun to rebuild the ruins accumulated by the persecution when he was arrested in Seoul on January 28, 1878; he was imprisoned for a little over four months, until June 5. Released, he was taken back to China. With the help of his missionaries, he composed a grammar and a dictionary of the Korean language, printed in Yokohama in 1880 and 1881. During one of his trips to Japan in 1882, he was struck with paralysis in Nagasaki, and was forced to return to France. He died in Vannes (Morbihan) on June 20, 1884; he is buried in the cemetery of this city.

2. China, etc

BODINIER, Émile-Marie, born on February 21, 1842 in Vaiges (Mayenne), entered the Seminary of the M.-E. on May 20, 1862, was ordained a priest on December 17, 1864, and left on February 15, 1865 for China (Kouy-tcheou). He began in the newly created parish of Saint-Etienne, in one of the suburbs of Kouy-yang, June 18, 1866-October 28, 1867, moved to the minor seminary, and from there, in 1869, to the district of Eul-lang-pa and Jen-houai hien. After a rather eventful life, in 1896, he was put in charge of the parish of Lan-tang, in Kouy-yang, and spent his last strength there. He died in Kouy-yang on February 2, 1901.

LA BRUNIÈRE (BRULLEY de), Maxime (1816 – 1846) left Paris in 1841 for Manchuria. In 1845, he left for the far north-east, arrived near Sakhalin and was assassinated in July 1846.

CALLERI, Joseph-Gaëtan-Pierre-Maxime-Marie, born June 25, 1810 in Turin (Piedmont, Italy), was incorporated into the diocese of Chambéry. He entered the Seminary of the M.-E. at the end of September 1833, was ordained a priest on December 20, 1834, received his destination for Korea, and left Paris on March 15, 1835 to embark at Le Havre on the 21st of the same month. Since entry into Korea was impossible, he remained in Macao; in 1842, he left the Society of the M.-E. He became the interpreter of M. de Lagrené during his embassy to China in 1844, and, according to M. Libois, who was well placed to know, he did everything possible to help the missions, and played a real part in the success of the negotiations. He died in Paris on June 8, 1862.

LEGRÉGEOIS, Pierre-Louis was born on August 6, 1801 in the hamlet of Iles, commune of Saint-Germain-du-Crioult (Calvados), did his classical studies at the Stanislas college in Paris, and at the minor seminary of Bayeux. He entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on June 6, 1826. A priest on December 22, 1827, he left on February 27 of the following year for the Macao procuratorate, as deputy procurator. He succeeded Father Baroudel, became head of the procuratorate in 1830, and fulfilled these functions for twelve years. During this time he participated in the training of the two young Koreans Kim Dae-geon and Choe Yang-eop, with whom he corresponded after their departure. Relations with the Macao authorities remained rather cold. Also, as soon as the English were about to acquire the island of Hong Kong, he thought of transporting the procuratorship there in 1841. To this end, he bought a property with his own money. Recalled in 1842 to be procurator of the missions in Rome, and this measure not being approved by several apostolic vicars, he was appointed director of the Seminary of Foreign Missions and officially received on October 10, 1842. He held various positions before dying on April 16, 1866.

LEMONNIER, Eugène, born in Beuzeville-la-Bastille (Manche) on April 25, 1828, studied at the college of Valognes, at the minor seminary in Muneville-sur-Mer, and at the major seminary of Coutances. Ordained priest on June 5, 1852, he was first chaplain in a family, in Orléans, and in Nivernais. He entered the Seminary of the M.-E. on September 27, 1854, and on July 6, 1855 left for the General College in Pinang, where on September 17 he became professor of rhetoric. Appointed Procurator in Shanghai, he left the College on November 22, 1866. In 1875, the Seminary of the M.-E. entrusted him with the Procuration house in Hong Kong; he directed it for 16 years. Ill in 1889, he asked to be relieved of his charge and allowed to remain in one of the Procuration houses. His wishes were granted in 1891. He resided sometimes in Shanghai, sometimes in Hong Kong, and died in Hong Kong on July 4, 1899.

LIBOIS, Napoléon-François was born in Chambois (Orne) on December 14, 1805. His priestly ordination took place on September 18, 1830. He entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on July 29, 1836, and left on February 20, 1837 for the missions; he was to go to Hing-hoa (Fo-kien), or remain at the Macao procuratorate. This last post fell to him; he acted as deputy procurator there. During this time he participated in the training of the two young Koreans Kim Dae-geon and Choe Yang-eop, with whom he corresponded after their departure. Moreover, he met and corresponded with almost all the missionaries who were heading for Korea. In 1842, he became procurator. In 1847, Libois took up the project of his predecessor Legrégeois, and took care of transferring the procuratorate to Hong Kong, where, under the English government, the procurators and the missionaries, their hosts, were to find more tranquility than under the too often troublesome and touchy authority of Portugal. This transfer was definitively carried out in the first months of 1847. In 1866, he was called to the Seminary of Foreign Missions, received as director on May 7 of the same year, and, a few months later, appointed attorney of the Society in Rome. Libois died there on April 6, 1872.

OSOUF, Pierre-Marie (1829 – 1906) left Paris in 1856 to set up a Procure in Singapore. He remained there until 1862, when he became Deputy Procurer in Hong Kong, then Procurer in 1866. He remained there until 1875, when he returned to Paris as Director. In 1876, he was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Western Japan. In 1891, thanks to him, the Catholic hierarchy was established and he became Archbishop of Tokyo. He remained there until his death in 1906.

ROUSSEILLE, Jean-Joseph. Born on August 1, 1832, in the parish of Saint-Louis, in Bordeaux (Gironde), Rousseille studied at the minor and major seminaries of his hometown. He entered the seminary of the Society as a deacon on December 30, 1854, was ordained a priest on December 22, 1855, and left for the Procure of Hong Kong on January 23, 1856. For four years, he assisted Father Libois, who had been in Macao and then in Hong Kong since 1837. He saw one or two of the last missionaries in Korea when they passed through Hong Kong. In 1860, he was recalled to the seminary of the Society in Paris as director. He taught Sacred Scripture and the liturgy, actively participated as first archivist in the classification and organization of the archives of the seminary, and also searched in the public archives for documents concerning the Society. He became a close friend of Father Charles Dallet. Appointed procurator in Rome in 1872, then in 1874 and 1877, Father Rousseille acquitted himself very well in this role. On July 4, 1880, he was elected superior of the seminary of Paris to replace Father Delpech, who had just completed his twelve regulatory years. However, in 1883, the Council of the seminary entrusted him with the task of founding in the Far East an establishment for the priests of the Society who wished to spend a few days or weeks in retreat. He finally established it, in 1885, in Hong Kong, under the name of the Holy Family of Nazareth. In 1899, he was recalled to France to direct the seminary of the Immaculate Conception (philosophy and first year of theology) in Bièvres; but his health being very shaken, he died on January 22, 1900 in Bièvres after a short illness.

THIVET, Sylvestre (1820 – 1849) left Paris at the beginning of 1844 to become deputy prosecutor in Macao. Then, the Procure being transferred to Hong Kong, he was appointed superior of the General College of Penang, where he arrived in June 1848. He died in June 1849 following an accident.

VERROLLES, Emmanuel-Jean-François was originally from the parish of Saint-Gilles in Caen (Calvados), where he was born on April 12, 1805. He studied at the high school in Caen and at the major seminary in Bayeux. Ordained a priest on May 31, 1828, he entered the Seminary of Foreign Missions on July 8, 1830, and on the following November 2 he left for Sichuan. In 1837, he was appointed superior of the seminary of Muping (Moupin), in place of Bishop Imbert who had become apostolic vicar of Korea. When Gregory XVI separated the mission from Beijing and created the apostolic vicariate of Manchuria and Mongolia, he entrusted these countries to the Society of Foreign Missions and Father Verrolles was appointed apostolic vicar with the title of Bishop of Colombia. He left Sichuan in September 1840, and was consecrated in Taiyuan in Shanxi, by Bishop Salvetti, on November 8, 1840. Six months later, on May 2, 1841, he arrived in Yang-kouan, one of the main Christian communities in Manchuria. Faced with conflicts, he visited Rome and France.
At the beginning of 1848, he returned to Manchuria. The question of delimitation arose again, and Verrolles returned to Europe in 1849. Having returned to his mission, and unable to carry out his plan to take as his coadjutor Father de La Brunière, who had been massacred in the far north, he chose Father Berneux. But the latter was appointed apostolic vicar of Korea. He returned to Europe to attend the Vatican Council. Despite his great age and failing health, he left again for Manchuria in 1875. He then established his residence in Yingkou. It was there that he died on April 29, 1878.

WALLAYS, Edmond was born on August 31, 1842 in Leffinghe, in the diocese of Bruges, province of West Flanders, Belgium. On September 12, 1862, a layman, he entered the seminary of Foreign Missions, where his classmate and friend was Just de Brétenières. He was the first Belgian who, in the second half of the 19th century, asked to be admitted to the Society of Foreign Missions. He was ordained a priest on June 10, 1865, and he received his destination for the service of the Procures. On August 15, 1865, he left for Shanghai as assistant prosecutor. Arriving at the Shanghai procuratorate, Mr. Wallays did his training as an assistant prosecutor under the direction of Mr. Cazenave, the first incumbent of this house. Then, in 1866, he was appointed director at the General College of Penang. He was the right-hand man of Mr. Laigre-Filliatrais, superior of the College of Penang from 1866 to 1885. On April 15, 1885, Mr. Laigre-Filliatrais died. Three months later, the Seminary of Paris designated Mr. Wallays as the new superior of the General College. At the end of 1916, after 31 years of superiorship, Mr. Wallays resigned; then, after a year spent in Nazareth in Hong Kong, where he could not adapt to a climate too different from that of Penang, he returned to occupy his room at the General College. He slowly weakened and passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 26, 1925.

In France

ALBRAND, François-Antoine, born on November 1, 1803 in Saint-Crépin (Hautes-Alpes), student at the minor seminary of Embrun and the major seminary of Gap, ordained priest on June 19, 1829, entered the Seminary of the M.-E. on May 6, 1830, and left on August 16 of the same year, to be director of the General College in Pinang. He was, from 1833 to 1839, superior of this establishment. Deputized, in 1839, by the mission of Siam, to the Seminary of the M.-E., he was officially received director on May 20. On February 2, 1855 he was elected superior of the Seminary, then reelected. He was about to complete the fourth three-year term of his superiorship when he died at the Seminary of the M.-E. on April 6, 1867.

BARRAN, Jean (1797 – 1855) was not a missionary member of the Society but taught at the seminary and held administrative positions, being assistant to the superior from 1845. He became superior of the seminary in July 1851, was reelected in October 1854, he died suddenly in January 1855.

DALLET, Claude-Charles was born in Langres (Haute-Marne) on October 18, 1829. On October 28, 1847, he entered the Major Seminary of Langres. He had received minor orders before entering the Seminary of the Foreign Missions Society in Paris on October 5, 1850. On June 5, 1852, Charles Dallet with others was ordained priest in Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, and, on August 20, he left for India. He suffered a first epileptic seizure in February 1856. He continued to be ill and, on August 25, 1860, against his wishes, he was instructed to leave India for Paris, where he arrived in October. On May 19, 1863, although he had not completely recovered, Dallet left again for India. Dallet was determined to remain in India, but in June 1867 his bishop ordered him to return to Paris because of his poor health.
He had already accepted the proposal (by Fr. Rousseille) to edit the writings of Bishop Daveluy to write the history of the Church of Korea following Daveluy's death in the persecution of 1866. In June 1871 it was decided to send Dallet on a fundraising tour of the Americas, as the Society was in financial difficulty. He had already completed most of his History. By 6 February 1873 he was back at the seminary in Paris, where he began to revise and complete his History. Dallet's History of the Church of Korea was published in May 1874, and reprinted in October 1875 with a blessing written by Pope Pius IX.
Dallet then began to request to return to India. Instead, on October 23, 1876, the directors in Paris agreed that Dallet should write a history of the entire Foreign Missions Society. Dallet was allowed to spend three years visiting all the missions, then return to Paris to write his History. He left Marseille on February 25, 1877, to visit the missions. In April, he was in Hong Kong, in May, he reached Japan, where he remained until embarking for Shanghai and China on July 19. Dallet arrived in Beijing on September 22, then returned to Shanghai on November 9, physically weak and barely able to walk. After resting, he left for Hong Kong on December 7, spent two weeks there, then arrived in Saigon on December 30. He began traveling through what is now Vietnam, visiting many missions before arriving at Kẻ Sở (Sở Kiện) in Tongking on March 30. There he fell ill and died of dysentery on April 25, 1878. He was forty-nine years old.

DELPECH, Prosper-Bernard, was born in Saint-Antonin (Tarn-et-Garonne) on April 9, 1827. He studied at the minor seminary of Moissac and at the major seminary of Montauban, where he received the priesthood on July 21, 1850. On September 25, he entered the Seminary of the M.-E., and on October 25, 1851, left for the General College of Pinang, where there were then many students from the persecuted missions of China and Indo-China. Recalled to the Seminary of the M.-E. on April 16, 1855, he was received as director on October 15; on October 16, 1865, he was appointed assistant to the superior, Mr. Albrand. On the latter's death, he was chosen, on June 6, 1867, as provisional superior, and on October 11, 1868, he became definitive superior. In the three consecutive elections, - as far as the Regulations allowed - his mandate was renewed: September 9, 1871, July 9, 1874, June 30, 1877. In 1880, not being re-eligible as superior, Delpech was appointed, on July 4, Procurator general of the Society in Rome. In 1883, the Regulations allowing him to be re-elected superior of the Seminary, he was chosen again, on July 6. The superiorate was continued to him by successive votes: July 5, 1886, July 8, 1889, July 4, 1892. Three years later, on July 1, 1895, he was appointed assistant. In 1896, his successor, Armbruster, having died, he replaced him on February 10, and was re-elected superior on June 27, 1898 and June 24, 1901. He retained these functions until June 27, 1904. In the elections of 1904, he expressed the desire to be relieved of the superiorship, whose obligations his age and infirmities no longer allowed him to fulfill. His wishes were granted, but in recognition of his eminent services, he was named, on June 27, honorary superior of the Seminary, the only honorary superior since the foundation of the Seminary in 1663. He gradually weakened and died on November 19, 1909 at the Seminary.

JURINES, Jean-Claude (1806 – 1846) left Paris for Siam in 1834. From there, he was sent to Sumatra. He returned to Paris in 1837 as director of the seminary. He resigned in October 1845 and became chaplain of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris.