Photo of the Day: St. Andrew Kim Taegon Statue, St. Raphael's Church, Long Island City, NY

 

A post of mine earlier this month briefly summarized the history of St. Raphael's Church, a mainstay of Long Island City, NY for 140 years. But I left for a later date a discussion of the white statue in front of the church honoring St. Andrew Kim Taegon, a source of great interest and pride for the parish, especially its Korean congregants.

The son of Christian converts, St. Andrew studied in Macao before his 1845 ordination as a Roman Catholic priest—Korea’s first. He did not last long, falling victim to persecution by the Josean dynasty. He was only 25 when he was beheaded for his evangelism efforts a year later. Religious freedom would not be granted in Korea until 1883.

Fr. Andrew, together with 102 other Korean martyrs, was canonized by Pope John Paul II on a trip to the nation in 1984. He is now the patron saint of Korean clergy.

Photo of the Day: St. Raphael's Church, Long Island City, NY

Over a month ago, I happened to be walking in Long Island City when I spotted from afar the spire, 150 feet high, of what turned out to be St. Raphael Catholic Church.

Though the parish was founded in 1865, it wasn’t until 20 years later that the current brick-and-sandstone structure was completed. The demographics of the parish—largely Irish and German immigrants in its early years—have changed markedly. Estimates for language speakers are one-third each now for English, Spanish, and Korean.