Profile
Pierre was the eldest of five children in a peasant family; his father was a farmer, his mother a seamstress. Pierre was baptized in Verteuil, France on 26 May 1837, confirmed in Aizecq, France on 21 May 1844, and made his first Communion on 2 May 1847. He felt a call to the priesthood, walked seven miles a day to take Latin lessons, and entered the Petit Séminaire de Richemont near Cognac, France in 1852, then the Société des Missions Etrangères (Paris Foreign Missions Society) seminary in Paris, France in 1857. He was ordained as a priest on 14 June 1862. He left for missionary work in Korea on 18 August 1862, arriving in June 1863; he studied the language and customs in Seoul and Saemgol, and then began working in the Naep’o region. He worked with Saint Marie-Nicolas-Antoine Daveluy and his bishop, Saint Siméon-François Berneux. To prevent his parishioners in Saemgol from being interrogated and abused by government authorities, he surrendered in March 1866; he was taken to Seoul, imprisoned, tortured, and finally executed for his faith and his work. Martyr.
Born
- 8 April 1837 in Aizecq, Charente, France
Died
- beheaded on 30 March 1866 in Galmaemot, Boryeong, Chungcheong-do, South Korea
- buried in the sand at the execution site
- remains later recovered and buried in the cathedral in Seoul, South Korea
- some relics in the Salle des Martyrs des Missions Étrangères in Paris, France
Venerated
- 4 July 1968 by Pope Pauli VI (decree of martyrdom)
Beatified
- 6 October 1968 by Pope Paul VI
Canonized
- 6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-pierre-aumaitre/
