70th anniversary of the Korean Martyrs
The following information is taken from www.koreanmartyrs.com
A commemorative booklet written by Deacon Pat Flanagan, a native of Liscannor, is available here.
During the Korean War (1950–1953) the Korean people endured unimaginable sufferings and losses. At the beginning of that conflict, seven young Columban priests opted to stay with their parishioners and not abandon them in their pain and loss. These men paid the ultimate price and joined countless martyrs of the young Korean church. This year, 2020, is the seventieth anniversary of their deaths.
The Columbans who died in 1950 were:
Fr Tony Collier (37) from Clogherhead, Co. Louth, who was killed on the 27 June 1950. Tony was the first foreigner to die in the Korean conflict.
Fr Jim Maginn (38) of Newcastle, Co. Down (born in Butte, Montana to Irish parents), who had been missing in Korea since June 1950, was killed on 4 July that year.
Fr Patrick Reilly (34) from Drumraney, Co. Westmeath, who was killed on 29 August 1950.
Monsignor Patrick Brennan (49) from Chicago, of Irish parents, who was killed on 24 September 1950 at the massacre at Taejon.
Fr Tommie Cusack (39) from Ballycotton, Liscannor, Co. Clare, killed on 24 September 1950 at the massacre at Taejon.
Fr Jack O’Brien (31) from Donamon, Co. Roscommon, killed on 24 September 1950 at the massacre at Taejon.
Fr Frank Canavan (35) from Headford, Co. Galway, who died in a prison camp in North Korea on 6 December 1950. On 4 December he told Mgr Tom Quinlan, who was in the prison camp with him, “I will be having Christmas dinner in Heaven".
On Wednesday 28 August 2013 the cause of the seven Columban priests was opened: they are among the eighty-one modern martyrs of Korea. The names of these seven young priests were inscribed in the Book of Martyrs presented to Pope St John Paul II at a ceremony in the Coliseum in Rome in 2000 commemorating martyrs of the 20th century.
Every Sunday throughout the Diocese of Seoul at the beginning of Mass the people offer a prayer for the beatification of the Columban Martyrs:
God, in the midst of ideological conflict and the wound of division, when all the rivers and mountains were engulfed in the gunfire of war, we thank you for sending good shepherds, faithful witnesses to show us that love is greater than hate. In your mercy, bless your faithful servants and through their intercession hear our prayers. St Columban, pray for us. Amen.