Punggi Catholic Church

Overview

Punggi Church is a church in Seongnae-ri, Punggi-eup, Yeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, belonging to the Andong Diocese. Beginning as the Punggi Catholic mission chapel in the 1930s, it was separated from Yeongju (now Hyucheon-dong) Parish and elevated to a parish on January 10, 1980, its patron saint is Saint Paul, and its first pastor was Father Peter Bertrand (An Deok-hwa). The present church was dedicated in May 1996.

History

〔Punggi Catholic mission chapel〕 According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, on November 14, 1932, Bishop F. Demange, Vicar Apostolic of Daegu, visited the Punggi Catholic mission chapel, elected the lay president, and directed that a house for a priest be prepared in anticipation of a future increase in the number of believers. In 1934, chapel president Jeon Dae-yeong (Peter) held the Sunday liturgy at the mission chapel together with Han Sang-o (Paul), Bae Seok-u (Gregory), Choe Byeong-ryong (Luke), Kim Cheol-gi (Andrew) and others. The Digital Yeongju Culture Encyclopedia describes the same scene as Gwon Dae-yeong keeping the Punggi mission chapel while attending Sunday worship together with Han Sang-ho, Bae Seok-u, Choe Byeong-ryong, Kim Cheol-gi and others, and on this basis explains that the Punggi mission chapel predates the Yeongju mission chapel (now Hyucheon-dong Church). The encyclopedia states that the founding year of the Punggi mission chapel cannot be known precisely, and that the chapel had belonged to Yecheon Catholic Church (now Yecheon Church) and Andong Mokseong-dong Catholic Church (now Mokseong-dong Cathedral) before being transferred to Yeongju Parish when the Yeongju mission chapel was elevated to Yeongju Parish in 1958.

〔Church site and construction〕 According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, from the late 1950s, Father M. Pélisse (Bae Se-yeong), the first pastor of Yeongju Parish, visited the Punggi mission chapel 1 to 2 times a week to teach catechism to the faithful. Hwang Yeong (Maria), wife of the director of Gyerim Hospital in Seongnae-dong, Punggi-eup, donated to Father Pélisse money raised by selling property when moving to Seoul, and with this money the priest purchased 730 pyeong at 209 Seongnae-dong as the church site and, with help from French benefactors, built a 60-pyeong church and a 20-pyeong convent in September 1965. The Digital Yeongju Culture Encyclopedia records that the church site was purchased in 1963 and the church and convent were built in 1965. From 1966, sisters of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from Pohang were dispatched to teach catechism to the faithful, but the convent was closed in 1970 for lack of financial means to operate it. In 1977, lay president Lee In-hui (Thomas) revitalized the mission chapel by devoting himself to 5-minute catechism and hymn instruction, but he also left the mission chapel when the Andong Diocese abolished the catechist system in 1978.

〔Elevation to parish〕 The Punggi mission chapel was elevated to a parish on January 10, 1980 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Yeongju Culture Encyclopedia), and Father Bertrand took office as its first pastor (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). In the order of parish establishment on the Andong Diocese website, Punggi is No. 22, with establishment date January 10, 1980. In July 1980, with support from the diocesan curia and through the efforts of Father Bertrand and the faithful, the rectory and garage were completed and celebrated together with the commemoration of the priest’s 25th anniversary of priestly ordination, and in June 1983 a 22-pyeong Sunday school catechesis room was completed. In March 1984, Father Lee Sang-hun (Leo), director of the Korean Catholic Catechetical Theology Institute, was invited to give lectures introducing Catholicism to local residents. In October 1986, when part of the church site was incorporated due to a road-widening project along the national highway, land at 209-10 was purchased with the compensation received, and in November 1988 227 pyeong of the Buseok mission chapel site was purchased.

〔Changes in the 1990s and the new church〕 In July 1990, Father Bertrand, who had served for 10 years, retired for health reasons, and Father R. Noël (No Gwang-myeong) became the 2 pastor. In October 1991 the church and rectory were repaired, and in December the Buseok mission chapel was transferred to Hyucheon-dong Parish. Father Noël died of cardiac arrest in February 1992, and Father Jang Hyeon-jun became the 3 pastor. In April 1993 a convent was prepared at Unit 606 of Cheoljjuk Apartment, and in June 3 sisters of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd Jesus were dispatched to the parish. In July of the same year, as the church used since the mission-chapel days had become too dilapidated to repair, the New Church Building Promotion Committee was formally launched, and fundraising by the priest and faithful bore fruit, so that the groundbreaking for a church with a site of 750 pyeong and a total floor area of 410 pyeong was held in March 1995, and the dedication ceremony for the new church was celebrated in May 1996, officiated by Bishop Park Seok-hui (Ignatius), Bishop of Andong.

〔Since the late 1990s〕 According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, during the tenure of the 4 pastor, Father Lee Chun-u, the Seongmo Daycare Center was opened for infants in January 1998 (the Digital Yeongju Culture Encyclopedia also records the opening of the Seongmo Daycare Center in 1998). The Digital Yeongju Culture Encyclopedia also records that a youth association was founded in 1993. During the tenure of the 5 pastor, Father Kim Sang-jin, Punggi Parish received the evangelization grand prize at the Great Jubilee Lay Conference hosted by the Korea Catholic Lay Apostolate Council in Seoul in October 2000, and in June 2001 the old fence was improved. During the tenure of the 6 pastor, Father Yu Jae-jun, in June 2004 volunteer labor was offered for farm households short of hands during the busy farming season as part of the rural evangelization movement.

〔Jurisdiction, statistics, and successive priests〕 The jurisdiction recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia is Punggi-eup, Bonghyeon-myeon, Sunheung-myeon, and Dansan-myeon. The number of believers was 260 as of 1981, 439 as of 1985, 505 as of 1990, 504 as of 1995, 582 as of 2000, and 697 as of 2004. The successive priests are the first, Peter P. Bertrand (An Deok-hwa) (1980.1–1990.7), the 2 , Rogerio R. Noël (No Gwang-myeong) (1990.7–1992.2), the 3, Ephrem Jang Hyeon-jun (1992.2–1996.6), the 4, Francis Lee Chun-u (1996.6–2000.1), the 5, Augustine Kim Sang-jin (2000.1–2002.6), and the 6, Thaddeus Yu Jae-jun (2002.6–).

Architecture and Space

The church built in September 1965 was 60 pyeong, and the convent was 20 pyeong. The present church, with a site of 750 pyeong and a total floor area of 410 pyeong, held its groundbreaking in March 1995 and was dedicated in May 1996 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

Related Places and People

• Yeongju (now Hyucheon-dong) Parish: the parish to which the Punggi mission chapel was transferred in 1958, from which Punggi Parish was separated in 1980, and to which the Buseok mission chapel was transferred in 1991 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Yeongju Culture Encyclopedia).
• Father Pélisse (Bae Se-yeong): the first pastor of Yeongju Parish, who visited the Punggi mission chapel to teach catechism and purchased the church site (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Father Peter Bertrand (An Deok-hwa): the first pastor of Punggi Parish, who served from 1980 for 10 years and laid the foundation of the parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Buseok mission chapel: its site was purchased in 1988 and it was transferred to Hyucheon-dong Parish in December 1991 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Sisters of the Good Shepherd Jesus: dispatched sisters to Punggi in 1966 and 1993 respectively (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, “Punggi Parish” (Vol. 12). Separation and elevation on January 10, 1980, patron saint, jurisdiction, statistics, successive priests, mission-chapel period, church site and construction, dedication of the new church, activities of pastors.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/6570
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Yeongju Culture Encyclopedia “Punggi Church”. Beginning and affiliation changes of the Punggi mission chapel, site purchase in 1963, church and convent in 1965, elevation to parish in 1980, Seongmo Daycare Center in 1998.
   https://www.grandculture.net/yeongju/toc/GC07400999
3. Andong Diocese, Jurisdiction and Parish Distribution Map. Order of parish establishment (Punggi No. 22, January 10, 1980).
   https://www.acatholic.or.kr/sub1/sub1_4.asp