Columba Kang Wan-suk
1761-1801 18th century Feast day: May 29
Organizational courage under mortal threat, refusal to betray others even under torture, leadership exercised fully as a laywoman when no other structure existed.
Who was Columba Kang Wan-suk?
A Korean laywoman of the early 19th century, married but living apart from her husband by mutual agreement so she could devote herself fully to the underground Catholic community, she organized catechism, hid priests, and coordinated the church's survival under a persecution that made discovery a death sentence. She was arrested, tortured at length to force her to name others, refused, and was executed in 1801, remembered as one of the most capable leaders the early Korean church had, lay or ordained.
In their own words
I would rather die than betray a single one of my brothers and sisters in faith.