Saint John Pak Hu-jae

John Pak Hu-jae (1798 or 1799 – September 3, 1839) was a Korean martyr and a saint of the Catholic Church. John Pak Hu-jae was the son of the Catholic martyr Lawrence Pak. He moved with his family to Seoul, where he earned a living making straw shoes. He was arrested during the persecutions of 1839 and beheaded in Seoul at the execution site outside the Small West Gate on September 3, 1839, alongside five other Catholics: Maria Pak K’ŭn-agi, Barbara Kwŏn Hŭi, Barbara Yi Chŏng-hŭi, Maria Yi Yŏn-hŭi, and Agnes Kim Hyo-ju. His feast day is September 20, as part of the group of the 103 Korean Martyrs. He was beatified on July 5, 1925, by Pope Pius XI and canonized on May 6, 1984, by Pope John Paul II as one of the 103 Korean Martyrs.