Gaeun Catholic Church

Overview

Gaeun Church is a church in Wangneung-ri, Gaeun-eup, Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, belonging to the Diocese of Andong. The Wangneung (Gaeun) Catholic mission chapel, formed after the Byeongin Persecution, was separated from Jeomchon Parish in 1957 to become a parish, and its patron saint is Saint John Vianney. The church preserves a portion of the relics and personal effects of Saint John Mary Vianney.

History

[Village of believers and mission chapel period] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the preaching of the Gospel in the Gaeun area took place when believers living in northern Gyeongsang-do at the time of the Byeongin Persecution (1866) fled persecution, stayed briefly at Sangdal, Dongro, in Mungyeong-gun, moved to Huinnaemi in Yeonpung, and then settled at Meokbaengi (present-day Wangneung 2-ri). The believers there gathered about 7 households around 1869, toward the end of the persecution, forming a village of believers (president Bang Saseon John), and in 1886 they were visited by Robert (Kim Borok), who lived at Sinnamugol in Chilgok, and were established as the Wangneung (Gaeun) Catholic mission chapel. After Father Paiyas (Ha Gyeong-jo) founded Gasil Parish (present-day Naksan Parish) in Chilgok around September 1894, it became a mission chapel under that parish. In 1901, when Father Kim Seong-hak (Alix), the 2 pastor, was transferred as the first pastor of Gimcheon Parish (present-day Hwanggeum-dong Parish), the mission chapel purchased a hall with his help. This hall was moved to Dotan-ri (present-day Wangneung 4-ri) in 1907, was moved again in 1941 to Wangneung 1-ri, the site of the present church, and a new hall was built there the following year.

[Changes of the supervising parish] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that the supervising parish of the Wangneung mission chapel changed frequently. After 1906 it came under the jurisdiction of Okcheon Parish in Chungbuk (Father Hong Byeong-cheol, Luke), then in 1922 under Jeomchon Gongpyeong Parish (Father Kim Mun-ok, Joseph), in 1947 it was changed to belong to Hamchang Parish (Father Kim Dong-hwan, Carlo), and from 1952 it belonged to Jeomchon Parish (Father Choe Yeong-ho, Vianney).

[Elevation to parish] The Wangneung mission chapel was elevated to a parish in 1957, during the period when it belonged to Jeomchon Parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). In the order of parish foundation on the Diocese of Andong website, Gaeun is the 6 foundation, with the foundation date on May 16, 1957. The encyclopedia gives the tenure of the first pastor, Father Ernst Siebertz (Ernst Siebertz, Ji Insu), as from May 1957 to November 1961, and notes that Father Ji belonged to the Order of Saint Benedict (Catholic Newspaper).

[Construction of the church and annex facilities] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, during the tenure of the first pastor, Father Siebertz, additional land was purchased in 1960 and it was decided to build a new church on that land together with the existing hall site, and in April of the following year (1961) construction of the church and the rectory began and was completed in November. A hall was built in June 1970 under the 4 pastor, Father Zieglemeyer, and a convent was built in May 1978 under the 5 pastor, Father Lee Seong-gil, Paul. To assist the pastoral ministry, sisters of the Sisters of the Korean Martyrs worked there from February 1978 to April 1980 and from February 1981 to February of the following year before returning, and from February 1985 sisters of the Sisters of the Christian Education have been active after establishing a branch house in the parish. For the Sunday school, a catechesis room was added in December 1985 and a kindergarten classroom in November 1986. From the early days the parishioners organized devotional associations such as the Marian Association, the student association, the Monica Association, the Saint Joseph Association, the Myeongdo Association, and the Legion.

[New construction of mission chapels] The encyclopedia records that the parish also devoted itself to newly building mission chapel halls in various places, newly building the Dotae mission chapel (1963), the Seongyu mission chapel (1964), the Nongam mission chapel (1965), and the Sanggoe mission chapel (1972). Its jurisdiction is Gaeun-eup and Nongam-myeon, and there were 9 mission chapels: Dotae, Sanggoe, Jeon-gok, Minji and Seongyu in Gaeun-eup, and Sangsinwon, Nongam, Naeseo and Jidong in Nongam-myeon. The list of mission chapels on the Diocese of Andong website currently lists under Gaeun Parish the Nongam, Dotae, Minji, Sanggoe, Sangsin, Seongyu, Ssangyong and Jeon-gok mission chapels.

[Relics and personal effects of Saint Vianney] According to the Catholic Newspaper of August 16, 2009, it was confirmed that the relics and personal effects of Saint John Mary Vianney are preserved at Gaeun Parish in Mungyeong in the Diocese of Andong. Gaeun Parish, which honors Father Vianney as its patron saint, has long preserved the relics and personal effects of the saint enshrined in a reliquary on display. Inside the reliquary on display, a relic measuring 1 cm in width and 0.7 cm in height is fixed with red thread, pieces of red and white cloth appearing to be vestments are attached on both sides, and above the relic is written in Latin “EX CARNE” (from the flesh), and below it “ST. J.M. VIANNEY”. According to the testimony of Father Kim Won-hyeon (pastor of Mungyeong Parish at the time), who comes from this parish, these relics and personal effects are presumed to have been received and brought to Korea around 1958 when the first pastor, Father Ji Insu (Ernst Siebertz, Order of Saint Benedict), visited his home country of Germany to request support for the church construction fund. Father Kim said that since childhood he had each year on August 4, the feast day of the saint, displayed the relics and personal effects to the faithful and held a rite of veneration with friendly gathering. The diocese offered a memorial Mass for the feast of Saint Vianney at Gaeun Church on August 4, 2009, presided over by Bishop Kwon Hyeok-ju, and held the rite of veneration, and the parish announced that it would hold a rite venerating the relics and personal effects of the saint on the first Thursday of every month and planned to provide a confessional as well. An article in the Catholic Newspaper of July 21, 2010 reports that during the previous year, which was the Year for Priests, pilgrims came without interruption and that the relics and personal effects are still on permanent display at present.

[Education center] According to the Catholic Newspaper of July 21, 2010, Gaeun Church operates the Gaeun Education Center, a group lodging facility. The center is a 2-story building, with a hall that can gather 60 to 80 people and a kitchen on the 1 floor, and on the 2 floor 4 bedrooms that can accommodate 6 to 10 people and a living room that can hold about 20 people.

[Church statistics and successive pastors] The church statistics in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are 1,896 persons in 1988 and 1,654 persons in 1993. The successive pastors are the first, Givertz (Ji Insu) Ernst (1957.5 to 1961.11), the 2 , Lee Gyeong-u, Gabriel (1961.11 to 1965), the 3 , Choe Yeong-ho, Vianney (1965 to 1969.8), the 4 , Zieglemeyer (Georges Zieglemeyer, Sin Geol-man) Georg (1969.8 to 1973), the 5 , Lee Seong-gil, Paul (1975 to 1979.5), the 6 , Yu Jae-jun, Thaddeus (1979.5 to 1981.8), the 7 , Maquieira (Raphal Maquieira, Min Jeong-sik) Raphael (1981.8 to 1985.4), the 8 , Jeon Dal-su, Antonio (1985.8 to 1990.7), the 9 , Lee Sang-bok, Pio (1990.7 to 1993.5), and the 10 , Jo Chang-rae, Vincentio (1993.5–).

Related places and persons

• Jeomchon Parish (present-day Chunghyeon Parish): the mother parish that separated the Gaeun mission chapel as a parish in 1957, and to which the Gaeun mission chapel had belonged from 1952 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Gasil Parish (present-day Naksan Parish): after it was founded in 1894, the Wangneung mission chapel came to belong to it (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Father Ji Insu (Ernst Siebertz): the first pastor, belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict, who is presumed to have brought the relics and personal effects of Father Vianney from Germany (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Catholic Newspaper).
• Father Kim Won-hyeon: from Gaeun Parish, he was pastor of Mungyeong Parish in 2009 and testified about the relics and personal effects (Catholic Newspaper).
• Gaeun mission chapels: the Dotae, Sanggoe, Jeon-gok, Minji, Seongyu, Sangsinwon, Nongam, Naeseo and Jidong mission chapels are listed in the encyclopedia, and in the Diocese of Andong mission chapel list the Ssangyong mission chapel is also listed as belonging to Gaeun Parish.

References and sources

1. Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, “Gaeun Parish” (Vol. 1). Separation and foundation from Jeomchon Parish in 1957, patron saint, jurisdiction and mission chapels, church statistics, successive pastors, history of the mission chapel period, changes of supervising parish, construction of the church and annex facilities.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/48
2. Catholic Newspaper (2009. 8. 16.), “Relics and personal effects of Saint Vianney preserved at Gaeun Parish in the Diocese of Andong”. Circumstances of the preservation of Father Vianney’s relics and personal effects, the reliquary on display, the feast-day memorial Mass.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/mobile/sa_ho/board/board_view.asp?bbscode=&bbscount=&bbsgubun=pds&ctxtAuth=X&ctxtMember=jpatrick&ctxtOrgNum=2083&ctxtSubMenu=pds&flag=&getID=13337&getSeq=&group_id=&gubun=&id=13278&infogubun=info&infoid=2083&key=&keyfield=&maingroup=&menugubun=saint&menunm=&Mode=&orggubun=101&page=1&ReadFlag=&RecHostcle=&seq=&strmember=jpatrick&sub_id=&table=gnattboard
3. Catholic Newspaper (2010. 7. 21.), “[Summer vacation special] Summer travel to a neighboring diocese (3) Diocese of Andong – lodgings and churches”. Facilities of the Gaeun Education Center and permanent display of the relics and personal effects.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/201007210278876
4. Diocese of Andong, Jurisdiction and parish distribution map. Order of parish foundation (Gaeun 6, May 16, 1957).
   https://www.acatholic.or.kr/sub1/sub1_4.asp
5. Diocese of Andong, List of mission chapels. 8 mission chapels belonging to Gaeun Parish.
   https://www.acatholic.or.kr/sub3/sub4.asp