Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert (Born: 23 March 1796 – Died: 21 September 1839), affectionately known in Korea as Bishop Laurentius Bum Sehyeong () was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

French

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. He was most notable for his Christian missionary work among the Koreans, he was appointed by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

in August 1836 when first Bishop Barthélemy Bruguière died in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

. Eventually, he was executed in the Kingdom of

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

for his Catholic faith; it is estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 were killed for their faith in 19th-century Korea—the

Korean Martyrs The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against Catholics during the 19th century in Korea. Among them are 103 Saints and 124 Blesseds officially recognized by the Catholic Church. Overview There were 5 main sets of pers ...

. 103 of them, including Imbert, were

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as saints in 1984. His feast day is 21 September, and he is also venerated with the rest of the 103

Korean martyrs The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against Catholics during the 19th century in Korea. Among them are 103 Saints and 124 Blesseds officially recognized by the Catholic Church. Overview There were 5 main sets of pers ...

on 20 September.

Biography

Imbert was born at

Marignane Marignane (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Geography It is a component of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and the largest suburb of the city of Marsei ...

, to parents who were residents of the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Callas, in the commune of Cabriès in the Department of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

. When he became of age, he was sent to

Aix Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *Alternate index, for an IBM Virtual Storage Access Method key-sequenced data set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belg ...

to pursue his studies. According to reports, he paid his expenses by making and selling rosaries. He then enrolled at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic Missionary order, missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular clergy, secular priests and Laity, lay persons dedicated to missionary wo ...

on 8 October 1818. On 5 March 1819, Imbert was incardinated in the

Archdiocese of Paris In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

, and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

on 18 December of that same year, having received an

indult In Catholic canon law, an indult is a permission or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case ...

from the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

due to his not having reached the legal age. He then set sail from France on 20 March 1820, bound for

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

service in China. Imbert's first stop was in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

, Malaya, where he was asked to replace a teacher at the College General (Major Seminary), who had taken ill. He taught there from April 1821 to January 1822 In 1821, Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens, the

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, requested for him to call at Singapore. The bishop had been contemplating opening a missionary station in Singapore. He was not very certain, though, whether there was any urgency or he was aware of the circumstances prevailing in the island. Therefore, the young missionary was to check on the situation. He reached Singapore on 11 December 1821 and spent about a week there. Imbert might have been the first priest to celebrate

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

on the island. In February 1822, Imbert sailed for

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, but unable to go directly there, he spent the next two years in

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

. Only then was he able to enter China, where he spent twelve years in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

and founded a seminary in

Moupin Muping Town is a town and the county seat of Baoxing County in Sichuan province of southwest China. In the late 1800s, under its alternative rendering Moupin, it developed a reputation for biodiversity among western naturalists, so a number of sp ...

. On 26 April 1836, Imbert was appointed

of Korea and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Capsa. He was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 14 May 1837 by Giacomo Luigi Fontana M.E.P., the Vicar Apostolic of Szechwan. He then crossed secretly from Manchuria to Korea that same year. During this time, Korea was going through a period of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

persecution. On 10 August 1839, Imbert, who was secretly going about his missionary work, was betrayed. Realizing that it was only a matter of time before he was arrested and killed, he celebrated Mass and surrendered himself to those who lay in waiting for him. He was taken to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, where he was tortured to reveal the whereabouts of foreign missionaries. Mistakenly believing that his

converts Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

would be spared if all foreign missionaries came out from hiding and gave themselves up, he wrote a note to his fellow missionaries, Pierre-Philibert Maubant and Jacques-Honoré Chastan, asking them to surrender to the Korean authorities as well, which they did. All three of them were imprisoned together. They were taken before an interrogator and questioned for three days to reveal the names and whereabouts of their converts. As torture failed to break them down, they were sent to another prison and

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

on 21 September 1839 at Saenamteo, Korea. Their bodies remained exposed for several days but were finally buried on Nogu Mountain. The three were among the 79

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

in 1925, and among the 103

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in Seoul on 6 May 1984. The

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of Saint Laurent Imbert is celebrated on 20 September (formerly 10 June). Accordingly, a religious statue of Imbert Bum is also enshrined at a side chapel of the

Myeongdong Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (; ), informally known as Myeongdong Cathedral (), is the national cathedral of the Archdiocese of Seoul. Located in the Myeongdong neighbourhood of Jung District, Seoul, South Korea, ...

, where pious women have vested the image in the traditional

Hanbok The hanbok () is the traditional clothing of the Koreans, Korean people. The term ''hanbok'' is primarily used by South Koreans; North Koreans refer to the clothes as (). The clothes are also worn in the Korean diaspora. Koryo-saram—ethnic Ko ...

costume of South Korea.

References

Bibliography

*Eugene Wijeysingha (2006), ''Going Forth... – The Catholic Church in Singapore 1819–2004'', Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore,
''The Lives of the 103 Martyr Saints of Korea: Saint Laurent Marie Joseph Imbert, Bishop (1797–1839)''
, Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea Newsletter No. 49 (Winter 2004).

External links

Profiles of Saints
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imbert, Laurent-Joseph-Marius 1796 births 1839 deaths People from Bouches-du-Rhône Seminary of the Foreign Missions (Paris) alumni French Roman Catholic missionaries Martyred Roman Catholic bishops French Roman Catholic bishops in Asia French Roman Catholic saints Korean Roman Catholic saints 19th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Paris Foreign Missions Society missionaries 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century executions by Korea People executed by Korea by decapitation French people executed abroad Christian martyrs executed by decapitation Canonizations by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic missionaries in Malaysia Roman Catholic missionaries in Singapore Roman Catholic missionaries in Vietnam Roman Catholic missionaries in Sichuan Roman Catholic missionaries in Korea French expatriates in Korea French expatriates in China French expatriates in Singapore French expatriates in Malaysia Roman Catholic bishops of Seoul

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography

External links