FERREOL, JEAN-JOSEPH

FERREOL, JEAN-JOSEPH. — Born at Cucuron (Vaucluse) on 27 December 1808, died on 3 February 1853. Ordained a priest on 21 December 1833, he entered the Seminary of the Foreign Missions of Paris on 23 September 1838, and on 28 April 1839 departed for Korea, then closed to foreigners. To reach his mission, he crossed all of China on foot from Macao to Manchuria, where he learned of his appointment as apostolic vicar of Korea, replacing Mgr Imbert Laurent, martyred on 21 September 1839. He was consecrated on 31 December of the same year and, together with Andrea Kim, whom he had ordained, embarked for Seoul in July 1845, arriving there on 12 October. For more than seven years, amid persecutions, he travelled throughout the country, multiplying conversions and composing or correcting numerous works in Korean. Having died of exhaustion in Seoul, he was buried beside blessed Andrea Kim, martyred in 1846.

Antonio Ando