SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Pope Francis beatified 124 Korean martyrs yesterday, telling hundreds of thousands of people who turned out for his open-air Mass that their ancestors’ willingness to die rather than renounce their faith two centuries ago was a model for Asian missionaries today.

The streets leading up to Seoul’s iconic Gwanghwamun Gate were packed with Koreans honouring the lay Catholics who founded the church here in the 18th century. Korea’s church is unique in that it was founded not by foreign missionary priests — as occurred in most of the world — but by members of Korea’s own noble classes who learned of Christianity by reading books about it.

These early Catholics were killed in the 18th and 19th centuries by the Joseon Dynasty, which tried to shut the Korean Peninsula off from Western influence.

Police in Seoul declined to give an estimate of the crowd size, but the Vatican said ab2out 800,000 people had turned out. The number was significant given that Catholics represent only about 10 per cent of South Korea’s 50 million people.

A collective cheer erupted from the masses when Francis declared the 124 “blessed” — the first step toward possible sainthood. Many of the women in the crowd wore lace veils; others sported paper sun visors with “Papa Francesco” written across them, protecting them from the overcast, hazy skies.

The scene was impressive, with thousands of people neatly packed into fenced-in sections leading away from the altar, which was set up in front of Gwanghwamun, the south gate to Gyeongbokgung palace, with mountains looming above and the presidential Blue House on the lower slope. Police in green vests stood guard along the barricades and volunteers handed out water to guard against the warm, humid temperatures.