Jeomchon-dong Catholic Church

About this place

Jeomchon-dong Catholic Church is a parish of the Mungyeong District in the Diocese of Andong and one of the long-standing centers of Catholic life in the Mungyeong area. It is also a representative community in the district whose parish tradition has continued for more than a century. Catholic Peace Broadcasting's report on the parish's centenary in 2022 shows a community that has continued through the Japanese colonial period, the Korean War, industrialization, and the growth of the city. Today the church is not only the center for Mass, the sacraments, and formation of parishioners, but also a point of connection with mission stations and the broader Catholic heritage of Mungyeong.

The Diocese of Andong states that Jeomchon-dong Catholic Church enshrines a relic of St. Andrew Kim Taegon. As part of the centenary project in 2022, a relic that had been kept within the altar was placed in a separate location where the faithful could venerate it. This relic, together with more than a century of parish life, gives the church a significance beyond that of an ordinary local parish: it is also a place that remembers the faith of the martyrs and the Catholic village tradition of Mungyeong. Visitors can therefore understand Jeomchon-dong Catholic Church as a meeting point between a living parish community and the long Catholic history of the region.