Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert (23 March 1796 – 21 September 1839), sometimes called Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert and affectionately known in Korea as Bishop Imbert Bum (

Korean name A Korean name (Hangul: ; Hanja: ) consists of a family name followed by a given name, as used by the Korean people in both South Korea and North Korea. In the Korean language, ''ireum'' or ''seongmyeong'' usually refers to the family name (''seon ...

: ''Bum Se-hyeong'') was a French missionary

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in Asia. Most notable among the Koreans, he was appointed by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio 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 1 June 1846. He h ...

in August 1836 when first Bishop

Barthélemy Bruguière Barthélemy Bruguière (February 12, 1792 – October 20, 1835) was the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul#Apostolic Vicars of Korea, Apostolic Vicar of Korea and former Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangkok#Vicariate Apostolic of Siam, Coa ...

died in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

. Eventually, he was executed in the Kingdom of

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

for his

Catholic faith The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a p ...

; 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 nineteenth century in Korea. Between 8,000–10,000 Korean Christians were killed during this period. 103 Catholics were canonized ''en masse'' in May 198 ...

. 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 Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 nineteenth century in Korea. Between 8,000–10,000 Korean Christians were killed during this period. 103 Catholics were canonized ''en masse'' in May 198 ...

on 20 September.

Biography

Imbert was born at

Marignane Marignane (; oc, Marinhana) 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 cit ...

, to parents who were residents of the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Callas, in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Cabriès Cabriès (; oc, Cabriés) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department *Realtor transmitter Realtor transmitter was a powerful medium wave transmit ...

in the

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...

. 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 *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set *Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgium ...

to pursue his studies. According to reports, he paid his expenses by making and selling

rosaries The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

. He then enrolled at the

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

of the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...

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

incardinated Incardination is the formal term in the Catholic Church for a clergyman being under a bishop or other ecclesiastical superior. It is also sometimes used to refer to laity who may transfer to another part of the church. Examples include transfers ...

in the

Archdiocese of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France ...

, and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

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 ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

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 which 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.Tho ...

service in China. Imbert's first stop was in

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

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, where he was asked to replace a teacher at the

College General The College General ( ms, Seminari Tinggi Katolik) is a Roman Catholic interdiocesan seminary located in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, Malaysia. The college's foundation can be traced back to the 1665 establishment of the Seminary of Saint Joseph in A ...

(Major Seminary), who had taken ill. He taught there from April 1821 to January 1822 In 1821,

Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens (June 4, 1762 – March 30, 1834) was the Vicar Apostolic of Siam. Biography Esprit-Marie-Joseph Florens was born in Lagnes, France on 4 Jun 1762. In 1786, he was ordained a priest in La Société des Missions Etran ...

, 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 pref ...

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

, 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 property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

on the island. In February 1822, Imbert sailed for

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, 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, includi ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

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

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

and founded a seminary in Moupin. 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 ...

Capsa Gafsa ( aeb, ڨفصة '; ar, قفصة qafṣah), originally called Capsa in Latin, is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. It lends its Latin name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the ninth-la ...

. He was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 14 May 1837 by

Giacomo Luigi Fontana Giacomo is an Italian name. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob (name), Jacob. People * Giacomo (name), including a list of people with the name Other uses

* Giacomo (horse), a race horse, winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby * Gi� ...

M.E.P., the Vicar Apostolic of

Huguang Huguang was a province of China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. It was founded by the Yuan dynasty in 1274. During the Yuan dynasty it included the areas of modern Hubei south of the Yangtze river, Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. During the Ming ...

. He then crossed secretly from Manchuria to Korea that same year. During this time, Korea was going through a period of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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 known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

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

converts Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

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 Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful infor ...

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 or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

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 ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "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 nam ...

in 1925, and among the 103

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

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 d ...

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 the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception ( la, Ecclesia Cathedralis Nostrae Dominae Immaculatae Conceptionis; ), informally known as Myeongdong Cathedral, is the national cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of ...

, where pious women have vested the image in the traditional

Hanbok The (; term used in South Korean standard language, South Korea), also called () n North Korean standard language, North Korea and China, is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term which is used to refer to traditional ethnic Koreans, Korean ...

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 Executed people from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Roman Catholic missionaries in Malaysia Roman Catholic missionaries in Singapore Roman Catholic missionaries in Vietnam Roman Catholic missionaries in China 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