Sabaltoegang Church

Overview

The Sabeol-Toegang church is a church belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Andong in Toegang-ri, Sabeol-myeon, Sangju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and is the first Catholic church established in the Sangju area. It began as the Mulmi (Toegang) Catholic mission chapel in 1903, was elevated to a parish in 1922 and later reverted to a Catholic mission chapel, and became a quasi-parish in 2003 and a parish in 2007. The red-brick Gothic church building was designated on May 7, 2007 as Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Properties Material No. 520 (now Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Heritage Material).

History

[Arrival of the Gospel and Establishment of the Catholic Mission Chapel] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, around 1866, Kim Hyeon-yeong, who lived in a village of the Gimhae Kim clan, read Catholic books and resolved to enter the faith but could not fulfill his intention because of the Byeongin persecution. After persecution eased following the conclusion of the Korea-France Treaty in 1886, Kim Hyeon-yeong urged his grandson Kim Jong-rok to enter the faith, and Kim Jong-rok learned doctrine at a nearby Catholic mission chapel. In 1899, Kim Jong-rok, together with Choe Myeon-jip and Kim Un-bae, was baptized at Pyoseokgol, the Mungyeong Catholic mission chapel of the Gasil (now Naksan) parish, forming a faith community, and centered on them a Catholic mission chapel was established in 1903. Kim Hyeon-yeong, after having his descendants enter the faith, tried to be baptized himself but in the same year suddenly fell ill and died after receiving emergency baptism. In the same year Father Kim Seong-hak (Alexio) of the Gimcheon (now Hwanggeum-dong) parish came to the Catholic mission chapel and administered the Easter confession to the faithful. The Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia writes that this Catholic mission chapel began in 1903 as the Mulmi mission chapel named after the village, and records the original site as Toegang-ri, Oepyeong-myeon, Sangju-gun.

[Visit of Bishop Demange] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, after Bishop F. Demange, Vicar Apostolic of Daegu, made a pastoral visit to the Toegang Catholic mission chapel on November 17, 1915, the number of faithful grew, so a new Catholic mission chapel and a priest residence were built, and on November 17, 1921 Bishop Demange visited the Catholic mission chapel again and blessed it under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist. The Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia writes that in 1915 Bishop Demange stayed for three days at the Mulmi mission chapel and celebrated various sacraments.

[Elevation to Parish and Construction of the Church] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, on September 24, 1922 the Toegang Catholic mission chapel was elevated to a parish and Father Lee Jong-pil (Mattia) was appointed as the first pastor. In the same year a parish office was newly built, and in 1924 a church was built and dedicated in a ceremony celebrated by Father J. Vermorel, Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Daegu. It is said that the seed of the Gospel handed down since before 1866 bore fruit as the Toegang parish after about 60 years. The Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia gives the date of elevation as September 23, 1922 in the detailed information and as September 24 in the main text. The list of parishes by date of establishment on the Diocese of Andong website also lists September 24, 1922 as the date of establishment of Toegang (formerly Mulmi).

[Education and Establishment of a Mission Chapel] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, during the tenure of the 2 pastor, Father Lee Seong-in (James), with the help of the faithful in 1933 Daegeon Academy was founded and educational work was carried out, and during the tenure of the 3 pastor, Father Jeong Su-gil, around 1937 a thatched house was prepared at 72 Odong-ri, Hamchang-eup and the Hamchang Catholic mission chapel was established. The Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia describes Daegeon Academy as the predecessor of today's Sangji Girls Middle School and Sangji Mirae Management High School and writes that it played a pioneering role in the local literacy movement.

[Period without a Resident Pastor] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, after Father Jeong Su-gil was transferred to the Eonyang parish in June 1940, no resident pastor was appointed for a time, so Father Seo Hyeong-seok (Francis), who was active in Hamchang, also took charge of evangelization in the Toegang area. After Father Seo died in 1941, the Sangju (now Seomun-dong) parish took charge of the Toegang area, and then in 4, namely in August 1944, Father Kim Jun-pil was appointed as the 4 pastor. When Father Kim was transferred to the Okpo parish in 1948 and the post became vacant again, Father Jeong Haeng-man (Francis Xavier) of the Sangju parish looked after the district, and then in 1954 Father Kim Myeong-je was appointed as the 5 pastor.

[Dedication of the New Church] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, when in 1952 the Waegwan vicariate was established and pastoral care for the Sangju and Mungyeong areas came to belong to the Waegwan vicariate, in 1956 Father Choe Yeong-ho of the Jeomchon-dong, Mungyeong parish was appointed as the 6 pastor. Through Father Choe efforts the number of faithful surged so that in 1958 alone 165 people were baptized, but the church built in 1924 was too small, so in October 1956 construction of a new church began on the former site of Daegeon Academy. After about 10 months, a Gothic church with a floor area of 92 pyeong and a rectory of 62 pyeong were completed, and in August 1957 the dedication ceremony was celebrated by Monsignor T. Bitterli (Lee Seong-do) of the Waegwan vicariate.

[Return to a Mission Chapel] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, with the establishment of the Diocese of Andong in May 1969 the Toegang parish was incorporated from the Waegwan vicariate into the Diocese of Andong but was soon closed and became a Catholic mission chapel of the Hamchang parish (the encyclopedia gives around 1970). The Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia writes in the main text that in May 1968, and in the detailed information that in September 1968, it became a Catholic mission chapel under the Hamchang church of the Diocese of Andong, and explains this against the background of the worsening rural exodus caused by the 6·25 War and industrialization. After becoming a Catholic mission chapel, the rectory and the education hall were used for summer faith schools and the like (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

[Quasi-Parish and Elevation to Parish] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, a movement to commemorate the historical value of the Toegang Catholic mission chapel arose, and on November 22, 1999 a ‘Bongdo Evangelization 100 Anniversary Commemoration’ marking the 100 anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic mission chapel by Kim Jong-rok, Choe Myeon-jip and Kim Un-bae in 1899 was held, presided over by Bishop Park Seok-hui of the Diocese of Andong. With more than 1,000 priests, religious and lay people from the Toegang mission chapel in attendance, a commemorative Mass was followed by the blessing and opening ceremony of the ‘House of Encounter.’ In July 2003 the Sabeol-Toegang quasi-parish was newly established by grouping the Sabeol, Maehyeop, Maeho, Muksang, Mokga and Samdeok Catholic mission chapels of the Gyerim-dong parish together with the Toegang Catholic mission chapel, and Father Lee Jun-geon (Kolbe) was appointed as the first pastor, and on July 11 the foundation Mass was celebrated by Bishop Kwon Hyeok-ju of the Diocese of Andong. The Diocese of Andong website gives July 1, 2003 for the establishment of the quasi-parish and July 11, 2007 for the establishment of the Sabeol-Toegang parish. The Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia writes that on July 11, 2003 it became a quasi-parish together with the Sabeol mission chapel and on July 11, 2007 it was elevated to the Toegang church. In contrast, the National Cultural Heritage Portal commentary writes that on July 1, 2003 it was elevated to a full parish.

[Church Statistics and Present Situation] The church statistics recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are 1,213 faithful in 1967, and the jurisdiction at that time was Mokga-ri, Moksang-ri, Maeho-ri and Toegang-ri in Sabeol-myeon, Sangju-gun, and Mareung-ri and Yulgok-ri in Yeongsun-myeon, Mungyeong-gun. According to the Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia, on September 25, 2022 a Mass was celebrated for the 100 anniversary of the foundation, since 2014 the parish has held a senior citizens love-room school and countryside concerts together with Sangju City, and as of 2023 the registered faithful numbered 398. It has produced more than 44 clergy, including Father Jeong Yang-mo, famous as a biblical scholar, and more than 15 religious, and the Sisters of the Korean Martyrs are active.

[List of Pastors] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia lists the pastors of the Toegang parish period as the first, Lee Jong-pil (Mattia) (1922.9-1931.11), the 2, Lee Seong-in (James) (1931.12-1934), the 3, Jeong Su-gil (Joseph) (1935.6-1940.6), the 4, Kim Jun-pil (Augustine) (1944.8-1948.9), the 5, Kim Myeong-je (Peter) (1954-1956.7), the 6, Choe Yeong-ho (Vianney) (1956.7-1965.1), interim Lee Dong-hun (Anthony) (1965.1-), the 7, Lee Seok-jin (Gregory) (-1965.6), and the 8, Park Tae-san (Joachim) (1966-1968.8).

Architecture and Space

According to the National Cultural Heritage Portal commentary, the church stands near the old Mulmi (Toegang) ferry landing on the Nakdong River below Mount Joam. The outer walls are built of red brick laid in English bond on concrete foundations, giving a Gothic architectural style, the plan is a rectangle elongated north-south, and the ceiling is arched. The main porch on the south front is laid with the long face of the bricks set horizontally, and consists of a narthex (a narrow, long vestibule between the front entrance of the church and the nave) with a pointed-arched main entrance and secondary entrances. Above the center of the narthex stands one bell tower with a 8-sided spire.

The commentary writes that plastered pilasters were set on the walls at equal intervals and that between each pilaster a horizontal sill below the window was made with bricks of various forms, fitted with wooden sash windows that open by sliding up and down. Above, decorated with red-brick arches, fixed windows were installed, and below, single casement windows were installed. The English commentary explains that stained glass was used for the windows. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia describes the church dedicated in 1957 as a Gothic church with a floor area of 92 pyeong.

The designation history as summarized by the Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia and HeritageWiki is as follows. The Sangju Toegang church was designated on May 7, 2007 as Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Properties Material No. 520 (quantity 1 lot 2 building), and following the notice of the Enforcement Decree of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act on November 19, 2021 the designation number was removed so that it became Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Properties Material, and following the enforcement of the Basic Act on National Heritage on May 17, 2024 it was changed to Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Heritage Material.

Related Places and People

• Seomun-dong church (former Sangju parish): The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia writes that the Seomun-dong parish was elevated to a parish in May 1936 from the Buwon Catholic mission chapel under the Toegang parish.
• Hamchang church: According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, around 1937 during the tenure of the 3 pastor of the Toegang parish the Hamchang Catholic mission chapel was established, and the Toegang parish later became a Catholic mission chapel under the Hamchang parish.
• Gyerim-dong church: According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, in 2003 the Sabeol, Maehyeop, Maeho, Muksang, Mokga and Samdeok Catholic mission chapels of the Gyerim-dong parish and the Toegang Catholic mission chapel were grouped to form the Sabeol-Toegang quasi-parish.
• Gasil (Naksan) parish: In 1899 Kim Jong-rok and two others were baptized at Pyoseokgol, the Mungyeong Catholic mission chapel of this parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Father Jeong Yang-mo: The Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia introduces him as a person famous as a biblical scholar among the clergy produced by the Toegang church.

References and Sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia ‘Toegang Parish’ (Vol. 11). Arrival of the Gospel and establishment of the mission chapel, elevation to parish in 1922, construction of the church in 1924, dedication of the new church in 1957, return to mission chapel, quasi-parish in 2003, list of pastors.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/6355
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia ‘Sangju Toegang Church’. Beginning as Mulmi mission chapel, elevation to parish and return to mission chapel, Daegeon Academy, elevation in 2007 and cultural heritage designation history, anniversary Mass in 2022 for the 100 anniversary, present situation in 2023.
   https://www.grandculture.net/sangju/toc/GC09101162
3. Academy of Korean Studies HeritageWiki, ‘Sangju Toegang Church’ (containing the National Cultural Heritage Portal commentary). Location of the church, Gothic architectural features, designated category and quantity.
   https://dh.aks.ac.kr/~heritage/wiki/index.php/%EC%83%81%EC%A3%BC_%ED%87%B4%EA%B0%95%EC%84%B1%EB%8B%B9
4. Catholic Diocese of Andong, diocesan status ‘Order of Parish Establishment’. Toegang (Mulmi) September 24, 1922, quasi-parish July 1, 2003, Sabeol-Toegang parish July 11, 2007.
   https://www.acatholic.or.kr/sub1/sub1_4.asp
5. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Sangju Culture Encyclopedia ‘Catholicism’. Overview of Catholicism in the Sangju area and churches in the Sangju district.
   https://www.grandculture.net/sangju/toc/GC09101157
6. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia ‘Seomun-dong Parish’ (Vol. 7). Seomun-dong parish elevated from the Buwon mission chapel under the Toegang parish.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/3156