Biography
Barbara Han A-gi
About Barbara Han A-gi
Barbara Han A-gi learned Catholic teaching from her mother as a child. She married a man who was not Catholic and did not continue practicing her religion. A visit to her family brought her into contact with Magdalena Kim Ob-i, whose instruction helped her return to Catholicism.
After losing her husband and children, Barbara returned to her family home. She encouraged Catholics who had stopped practicing and taught people interested in the religion.
The bishops’ conference account also records that she instructed people preparing for baptism and baptized children in danger of death.
She was arrested with Magdalena and Agatha Kim A-gi in 1836 for reading and keeping Catholic books. During questioning she explained the Ten Commandments and refused to renounce her faith. Her death sentence was postponed, and she remained imprisoned for years. She was executed with eight other Catholics outside Seoul’s Small West Gate on May 24, 1839.
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