Yecheon Catholic Church

Overview

Yecheon Church is a church in Seobon-ri, Yecheon-eup, Yecheon-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, belonging to the Andong Diocese. It was separated and established from Gongpyeong Parish on May 22, 1932, and its patron is listed as Saint Francis Xavier in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia and as Saint Francis Xavier in the Andong Diocese parish information. In the order of parish establishment in the Andong Diocese, it is the 3th.

History

[Introduction of Catholicism to the Yecheon area] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Catholicism first entered Yecheon when believers fled there to escape persecution during the Shinyu Persecution. Some of them moved to Sinnamugol in Yeonhwado, Jicheon-myeon, Chilgok-gun, North Gyeongsang Province in 1850 to escape successive persecutions. Jeon Saverio from Naepo in Chungcheong Province, who was farming in the village of Gonak in Yecheon town to escape persecution, and Yi Yohan, also from Chungcheong Province, were falsely accused of invading a Catholic village, setting fire, stealing and kidnapping women, and were dragged before the Yecheon magistrate, tortured and then transferred to the Gongju provincial office. When the Gongju governor confirmed the false charge, he urged them to apostatize on condition of release, but they said before a large crowd that they would rather be martyred, and on January 22 in 1866 they were hanged and martyred. They are the first martyrs of Yecheon and the first martyrs of 1866. In lunar January of the same year, the family of Shin Tae-bo (Joseph), who lived in Dogyeong-ri, Naeha-myeon, Yonggung-gun (now Dojang-ri, Jibo-myeon, Yecheon-gun) to escape persecution, and a family with the surname Ji taught catechism to three village children and had them baptized; these children, Kim Gyeong-su (Thaddeus), Jeong In-jin (Luke) and Gwon Do-su (Matthias), were the first in Yecheon to be instructed and baptized.

[Before the establishment of the parish] When the Daegu Diocese was separated from the Joseon Diocese in 1911, Father Tourneux (V. Tourneux, Yeo Dong-seon), who had ministered in Jeolla Province, moved to Gyeongsang Province and, as the 5th pastor of Gasil Parish (now Naksan), ministered as far as the Yecheon area, and from in October 1914 Father Kim Mun-ok (Joseph), the 2th pastor of Gimcheon-eup Parish, ministered to the Yecheon area. In 1922 Father Kim Mun-ok founded Gongpyeong Parish in Hoseonam-myeon, Mungyeong-gun and became its first pastor, and the Catholic villages in Yecheon-myeon and Yonggung-myeon automatically became his pastoral area (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

[Establishment of the parish and blessing of the church] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, in 1929 Father Kim Mun-ok purchased 2,208㎡ (lot 235 in Seobon-dong) out of 4,877.4㎡ of the present church land in Seobon-dong, Yecheon-eup, with his personal property, to use as a base for establishing the parish. Father Yi Gi-sun (Dominic), who took office as first pastor on May 22, 1932, stayed at Andong Parish immediately after taking office and built the church and ancillary buildings, and on November 14 of the same year the church blessing was held with Bishop F. Demange (F. Demange), head of the Daegu Diocese, presiding. Later, through the efforts of the 2th Father Gwon Yeong-jo, the 3th Father Kim Dong-eon, the 4th Father Kim Tae-ho and the 5th Father Shin Hyeon-ok, Yecheon Parish grew to cover 6 counties (Yecheon, Yeongju, Bonghwa, Andong, Sangju, Uiseong) with 20 Catholic mission chapels under its jurisdiction. In the Andong Diocese order of parish establishment, Yecheon is 3th and its establishment date is May 22, 1932. The Andong Diocese parish information also lists the patron and establishment date as Saint Francis Xavier, May 22, 1932.

[New church in 1957 and establishment of mission chapels] The 5th pastor, Father Shin Hyeon-ok, purchased 2,925 pyeong of field at lot 74 in Seobon-dong in 1957 and began construction of a church building on the scale of 161 pyeong, completing and blessing it in the autumn of the same year (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). Afterwards he established Wonhak Catholic mission chapel (1959), Yongchon Catholic mission chapel (1960), Ocheon Catholic mission chapel (1963), Bonhyeon Catholic mission chapel (1965) and others, held the blessing ceremony for the newly built rectory in December 1975, and in 1976 paved the parish entrance road, repaired the walls and installed waterworks to improve the parish environment.

[Expansion in the 1990s and reconstruction after fire] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the renovated education hall was blessed in June 1990, and in January 1992, as a project commemorating the 60th anniversary of the parish establishment, it was decided to repair the church roof and renovate the rectory and convent, followed by the blessing of the newly built rectory, convent and catechism classrooms in November of the same year. However, on February 18, 1994 the church building was completely destroyed by fire caused by an electrical short circuit. With the efforts of the parishioners and donations sent from across the country, the groundbreaking for the new church was held in May of the same year, and in June 1995 the church was rebuilt as a 3-story building and blessed with Bishop Park Seok-hui (Ignatius), the 2th head of the Andong Diocese, presiding. Father Kim Yeong-sik, who took office as the 16th pastor, is said to have carried out pastoral activities overcoming the hardship of the fire.

[Jurisdictional area, statistics and successive priests] The jurisdictional area recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia is Yecheon-eup, Sangri-myeon, Hari-myeon, Gamcheon-myeon, Bomun-myeon, Yongmun-myeon, Yucheon-myeon, Jibo-myeon, Gaepo-myeon and Homyeong-myeon in Yecheon-gun. Church statistics are 1,702 in 1969, 1,390 in 1973, 1,420 in 1977, 1,571 in 1981, 1,909 in 1985, 1,721 in 1989, 1,815 in 1993, 1,505 in 1997 and 1,640 in 2000. Successive priests are first Yi Gi-sun, Dominic (1932.5~1937.4), 2th Gwon Yeong-jo, Marco (1937.4~1943.2), 3th Kim Dong-eon, Peter (1943.2~1948.7), 4th Kim Tae-ho, Aloysius (1950.4~1952.3), 5th Shin Hyeon-ok, Cyril (1952.3~1958.5), 6th Noel (R. Noël, No Gwang-myeong), Roger (1958.5~1962.3), 7th Doc (R. Doc, Park Roje), Roger (1962.3~1966.11), 8th Messini (P. Mésini, Mae Gi-seok), Peter (1966.11~1973.4), 9th O’Keefe (L. O’Keefe, Gi Riam), William (1973.4~1977.4), 10th Jo Jong-yul, Bernard (1977.4~1981.2), 11th Yi Yeong-gil, Charles (1981.2~1986.1), 12th Jeon Jang-ho, Francis (1986.1~1989.2), 13th Nam Hak-hyeon, Stephen (1989.2~1991.1), 14th Kim Yeong-pil, Paul (1991.1~1995.6), 15th Cha Ho-cheol, John the Baptist (1995.6~1998.2) and 16th Kim Yeong-sik, Joseph (1998.2~). The Andong Diocese parish information lists the religious congregation assigned to this parish as the Franciscan Missionary Sisters, and includes the Sacred Heart Daycare Center in the contact information.

Architecture and Space

According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, after the first church blessed on November 14, 1932, in 1957 a field of 2,925 pyeong at lot 74 in Seobon-dong was purchased and a church on the scale of 161 pyeong was built and blessed that autumn. After the church was completely destroyed by an electrical short-circuit fire on February 18, 1994, it was rebuilt as a 3-story building in June 1995 and blessed.

Related Places and People

• Gongpyeong Parish (now Jeomchondong Parish): the parish from which Yecheon Parish was separated, founded by Father Kim Mun-ok in 1922 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Gasil Parish (now Naksan Parish): the parish where Father Tourneux served as 5th pastor after 1911 and ministered as far as the Yecheon area (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Father Kim Mun-ok (Joseph): ministered to the Yecheon area from 1914 and in 1929 purchased part of the Seobon-dong church land with personal property (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• First martyrs of Yecheon, Jeon Saverio and Yi Yohan: martyred by hanging at the Gongju provincial office on January 22, 1866 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Family of Shin Tae-bo (Joseph): in 1866, in Dogyeong-ri, Naeha-myeon, Yonggung-gun (now Dojang-ri, Jibo-myeon), taught catechism to three village children (Kim Gyeong-su, Jeong In-jin, Gwon Do-su) and had them baptized (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Wonhak, Yongchon, Ocheon and Bonhyeon Catholic mission chapels: Catholic mission chapels established during Father Shin Hyeon-ok’s tenure (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, “Yecheon Parish” (vol. 9). Establishment May 22, 1932, patron, jurisdictional area, statistics, successive priests, early history and first martyrs, parish establishment and church blessing, fire and reconstruction.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/4587
2. Andong Diocese, parish information “Yecheon Church”. Patron and establishment date (1932-05-22), assigned sisters.
   https://www.acatholic.or.kr/sub3/sub1_view.asp?seq=22
3. Andong Diocese, jurisdiction and parish distribution map. Order of parish establishment (Yecheon 3th, May 22, 1932).
   https://www.acatholic.or.kr/sub1/sub1_4.asp