Blessed James Kwon Sang-yeon

Jacob Kwon Sang-yeon (1751–December 8, 1791) was a Korean martyr and a blessed of the Catholic Church. Born in Jinsan, in the province of Jeolla, in 1751, he was introduced to the Catholic faith by his cousin, Paul Yun Ji-chung, around 1787. After his baptism, Jacob dedicated himself to teaching the Catholic religion. In 1790, the Apostolic Vicar of Beijing, Alexandre de Gouvea, issued a decree prohibiting ancestral worship rites. Consequently, Paul Yun Ji-chung and Jacob Kwon Sang-yeon burned their ancestral tablet. The following summer, upon the death of Paul Yun Ji-chung’s mother, they held her funeral according to Catholic rites rather than Confucian ones, in accordance with her wishes. News soon spread that they had failed to observe ancestral funeral rituals and had burned their ancestral tablet, inciting outrage at the royal court. An order for their arrest was issued. Upon hearing this, they hid in Chungcheong Province—Jacob in Hansan and Paul in Gwangcheon. As a result, Paul’s uncle was arrested in their stead. Learning of this, Jacob and Paul surrendered to the authorities around mid-October 1791. Initial attempts to persuade them to renounce their faith failed. They were transferred to the office of the governor of Jeonju, where various methods, including torture, were used in a failed attempt to force them to betray other Catholics or renounce their faith. The governor reported the matter to the royal court, where ministers decided that both should be executed, a decision approved by the king. Upon the arrival of the verdict in Jeonju, Paul Yun Ji-chung and Jacob Kwon Sang-yeon were taken outside the city’s south gate and beheaded on December 8, 1791. Their families waited nine days for permission to retrieve and bury their bodies, and were surprised to find that, despite the time elapsed, the martyrs' bodies appeared as if they had just been executed.