Eonyang Catholic Church

Overview

Eonyang Church is a church in Songdae-ri, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan Metropolitan City, belonging to the Busan Diocese. It is a parish separated and established from the Busan (Beomil) Parish on December 5, 1926, with Christ the King as patron, and the church and rectory blessed on October 25, 1936, as the first Catholic church built in the Ulsan area, were designated in 2004 as National Registered Cultural Heritage No. 103.

History

[Era of Catholic Villages and Mission Chapels] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, a faith community in the southern Gyeongsang-do region is presumed to have formed after the Eulhae Persecution in 1815, and the Eonyang area is thought to have been later than that. In this area there was the Naeganwol Buldanggol Catholic mission chapel, the first Catholic mission chapel in Gyeongnam, and Buldanggol is where Kim Jae-gwon (Francis) migrated to escape persecution and formed a faith community with other believers. By the late 1850s, when Fr. Choe Yang-eop (Thomas) and Bishop Daveluy visited in turn, the Eonyang area had become a collective residential area of believers, with Catholic villages formed in Ganwol, Jukrim (Daejae, Jungnyeong, Jukrimgol), Tapgok, Yessinegol, Jinmokjeong and other places. According to one local account of this area, Catholic villages had already formed in the early 1800s, but the encyclopedia explains that this has little basis because it does not appear at all in Church sources.

[Byeongin Persecution and Establishment of Mission Chapels] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the Catholic villages in the Eonyang area suffered a severe blow during the Byeongin Persecution. The first martyr of this area appearing in the records is Kim Sa-jip (Philip), who was arrested by the constables of Jinyeong in November 1866 and martyred at the age of 23 in May (by the lunar calendar) of the following year. Heo In-baek (James), Kim Jong-ryun (Luke) and Lee Yang-deung (Peter), 3 persons living in the Daejae Catholic village in Eonyang, were arrested on September 14, 1868 (July 28 by the lunar calendar) and martyred at Jangdae in Ulsan. After the persecution ended, Fr. Robert (A. P. Robert), who was appointed in 1882 as pastor of Daegu (present-day Gyesan-dong) Parish to take charge of the Gyeongsang-do region, established the Salti Catholic mission chapel in 1883, when there were 38 believers. In the following year the Eonyang-eup Catholic mission chapel was also established. This area came to belong to the new parish when Fr. Jozeau (M. Jozeau) settled on Jeolyeongdo in Busan in early 1890 and founded the Busan (Choryang) Parish, was briefly transferred to the Myeongnye provisional parish (present-day Miryang Parish) around January 1898, and returned to the jurisdiction of the Busan Parish in 1901. In 1904, under the 6 pastor Fr. Le Gendre (L. Le Gendre), the Sunjeong Catholic mission chapel was established in addition to the Salti and Eonyang-eup mission chapels, and the believers of the three mission chapels numbered 153.

[Preparation for Parish Establishment] The chronology on the Eonyang Parish homepage states that in 1884 Kim Mun-ok (Joseph) and Kim Seung-yeon (Augustinus) went to study at Penang Seminary for the first time from the Yeongnam region, that in 1886 with the creation of Daegu Parish an era belonging to Daegu Parish began, that in 1888 a preparatory committee for the establishment of Eonyang Parish was organized, and that in 1889 the establishment of Eonyang Parish and Busan Parish was discussed and decided as the establishment of Busan (Beomil) Parish. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that Eonyang Parish was established through the efforts of local believers such as Park U-yang (Gabriel) and Kim Mun-ik (Andrew).

[Parish Establishment] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that on December 5, 1926 Eonyang Parish was separated and established from Busan (present-day Beomil) Parish and Fr. Beaudevin (E. Beaudevin) took office as first pastor, that Fr. Beaudevin received formal appointment on April 4 of the following year and arrived at the parish on May 14. The Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture and the National Heritage Digital Service record that on May 14, 1927 Fr. Emile Beaudevin took office as the first parish priest. The parish homepage chronology lists Fr. Beaudevin designated as first priest on December 5, 1926, on April 4, 1927 Fr. Beaudevin’s priestly appointment and the creation of the parish (with 16 mission chapels), and on May 25 the creation of Eonyang Parish (with 16 mission chapels) respectively. The Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture records that Eonyang Church is the second parish established in the Busan Diocese.

[Construction of the New Church] According to the Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture, Fr. Beaudevin announced a plan to build the church, and in 1928 representatives of the mission chapels in the Eonyang area organized the Eonyang Regional Catholic Joint Association and launched a fundraising campaign. Construction proceeded over 6 years with repeated interruptions and resumptions. The time of groundbreaking differs by source. The National Heritage Digital Service and the parish homepage record that on May 25, 1928 the groundbreaking ceremony for the new church and rectory was held, and the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that construction began in spring 1929. The parish homepage chronology also lists the founding of the Eonyang Parish Catholic Joint Association on March 3, 1928 and a great Mass commemorating the completion of Eonyang Church on August 15, 1932. On October 25, 1936 the church and rectory were completed and the blessing ceremony was held with Bishop Demange (F. Demange) presiding (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The parish homepage chronology records this consecration ceremony as ‘presided by Bishop Ahn’. The Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture records that the church was completed on October 26, 1936 and mentions in the same entry the consecration ceremony on October 25.

[Parish Activities in the 1940–1960s] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the choir was organized in October 1940, the Marian Association in August 1952, and Sohwa Kindergarten opened in January 1954. In April 1956 the Ulsan (present-day Boksan) Parish was separated and 356 parish registers were transferred. A hall was prepared in 1957 and a statue of Our Lady was erected in 1962, and in July of the same year the halls of the Samjeong, Yuchon, Jungni and Soho Catholic mission chapels were newly built. The parish homepage chronology states that in 1958 the Gupo Parish was divided off and 11 new mission chapels were established for a total of 23 mission chapels, and 19 praesidia and a curia of the Legion of Mary were organized.

[Facilities After the 1970s] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the Anna Kindergarten (former Sohwa Kindergarten) building was completed on August 25, 1974, and the convent was completed on November 5, 1976 with a blessing ceremony. On November 18, 1979 the Anna Teresa Hall, named after the donor, was built on land donated by three consecrated virgins, and on May 24, 1981 a credit union was founded. On November 9, 1986 the Jukrimgul historic site was discovered, and on July 20, 1989 the rectory was completed, followed by the opening of a faith relics exhibition hall on the site of the old rectory on December 4 of the following year. Afterwards, in the 1990s the parish community stagnated somewhat due to frequent transfers of pastors, and the encyclopedia records that Fr. Park Sang-un, who took office as the 26 pastor in February 1998, worked for the unity of the community.

[Later Contents of the Parish Homepage Chronology] The parish homepage chronology lists the discovery of Beomgul on March 10, 1988, the completion of the extension of the Anna Teresa Education Center on March 4, 2001, a blessing Mass for the Marian grotto on November 11, 2001, the first Mass for the elevation of the Inbo Catholic mission chapel to a parish on January 14, 2007, commemorative events for the 80 anniversary of parish establishment and the completion of the Baetmeori restoration work in May 2007, a Mass for the 100 anniversary of the Sunjeong mission chapel and the unveiling of a monument on December 16, 2013, commemorative events for the 90 anniversary of parish establishment and the opening of a relics veneration room in May 2017, stonework for the Garden of the Cross and repair and repainting of the church roof in 2018, and the creation of the Ulju-gun Catholic pilgrimage route in 2019.

[Church Statistics and Jurisdiction] The church statistics recorded by the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are 1,438 in 1957, 2,188 in 1963, 1,984 in 1970, 1,500 in 1976, 1,729 in 1982, 1,950 in 1989, 2,535 in 1994, and 2,916 in 1999. The jurisdiction at that time covered all of Eonyang-eup, Sangbuk-myeon, Samnam-myeon, Duseo-myeon and Dudong-myeon and parts of Habuk-myeon and Samdong-myeon in Yangsan-si, and the mission chapels were 17 places, including Samjeong, Baenae, Dudong, Jeoneop, Miho, Sachon, Naewa, Bonggye, Imbo, Haseonpil, Sangseonpil, Jikdong, Gilcheon, Sunjeong, Gunggeunjeong, Salti and Soho. The Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture records that the church had jurisdiction over 16 mission chapels when it was built, but through closures and absorptions only 4 mission chapels now remain, Salti, Gunggeunjeong, Gilcheon and Sunjeong, and that believers number 1,405 men and 1,785 women for a total of 3,190. The Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture explains that Eonyang Church first served as the mother church of churches in the Ulsan area, separating Ulsan Church (present-day Boksan Church) in 1956, and more recently Eonyang St. James Church and Inbo Church.

[Successive Pastors] The priests listed in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia continue as the first Fr. Beaudevin (E. Beaudevin) Emilio (1926.12–1939.5), the 2 Fr. Cordesse (M. Cordesse) Mario (1939.5–1940.4), the 3 Fr. Froidevaux (R. Froidevaux) Raimundo (1940.4–6), the 4 Joseph Jeong Su-gil (1940.6–1943.2), the 5 Andrea Yu Heung-mo (1943.2–1947), the 6 Ignatius Lee Seong-man (1948.8–1952.9), the 7 John Choi Byeong-seon (1952.9–1953.11), the 8 Joseph Kim Jae-seok (1953.11–1956.4), the 9 John Kim Yeong-je (1956.4–1962.6), the 10 Leo Lee Don-u (1962.6–1967.1), the 11 Callistus Shin Yun-u (1967.1–9), the 12 John Bae Sang-seop (1967.9–1971.1), the 13 Anthony Lee Dong-hun (1971.10–1972.4), the 14 Moses Kim Seong-do (1972.11–1976.11), the 15 Aloysius Choe Yeong-cheol (1976.11–1979.2), the 16 Francis Gwon Ji-ho (1979.2–1980.2), the 17 John Chrysostom Kim Seung-ju (1980.2–1981.2), the 18 Andrea Ha Yong-dal (1981.2–1983.2), the 19 Francis Yeom Bong-deok (1983.2–1986.2), the 20 Andrea Kim Yeong-gon (1986.2–1991.2), the 21 Emmanuel Kim Chang-dae (1991.2–1992.2), the 22 Anselm Kim Yeong-gyu (1992.2–1993.2), the 23 Joseph Hwang Tae-ung (1993.2–1994.2), the 24 Paul Kim Jeong-uk (1994.2–1996.2), the 25 Paul Kang Ho-seong (1996.2–1998.2), and the 26 Paul Park Sang-un (1998.2–).

Architecture and Space

According to the Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture, Eonyang Church was designed by Fr. Beaudevin and is known to have been built by the Chinese technician who built Myeongdong Church. Because the Paris Foreign Missions Society supported the construction of the church, the architectural style, like other churches built with the help of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, is Gothic with a bell tower. The plan consists only of a rectangular nave without side aisles, a single-nave type, with a porch in the center of the facade and a bell tower above it. Buttresses were erected at 5 places on both walls to resist lateral thrust, and between the buttresses a circular window and two arched windows were installed. The front and sides were finished in stone but the rear wall was treated in brick, which this entry explains was provided to allow easy extension in preparation for an increase in believers and reflects the poor financial situation at the time of construction.

Good News Catholic Information records that Eonyang Church (including the rectory), designed directly by Fr. Beaudevin and built through the efforts of believers over 6 years together with the Chinese technicians who built Myeongdong Church, is in Gothic form and is the only stone building in the Busan Diocese. The walls were built of granite quarried from the mountain behind the church.

The rectory has a porch in the center of the plan with rooms on either side, and the stairs of the porch lead up to the 2 floor. Pillars were erected on the front of the building to create a veranda open on three sides, with long overhanging eaves on top. Situated on sloping land low in front and high in back, the 1 floor of the facade was used as a semi-basement warehouse, the arched windows of the exterior walls are of the same form as the parish church, and 3 dormers protruding above the roof and the chimney are characteristic (Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture). Good News describes this building, used as a faith relics exhibition hall, as a stone slate building of the same form as the church, with 1 basement floor and 2 above-ground floors, on a scale of 45 pyeong.

As for cultural heritage history, the Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture records that the owner is the Catholic Busan Diocese Maintenance Foundation and that it was designated on September 4, 2004 as National Registered Cultural Heritage No. 103, then the designation number was abolished by notice of the Cultural Heritage Administration on November 19, 2021 and it was re-designated as National Registered Cultural Heritage, and with the enforcement of the Basic Act on National Heritage on May 17, 2024 it was changed to National Registered Cultural Heritage. The National Heritage Digital Service lists this heritage as ‘Ulsan Eonyang Church and Rectory’, and records that the heritage name was changed in 2013 and 2016, main building repairs in 2007–2008, a detailed safety diagnosis and interior repair of the bell tower, roof painting and window glass replacement in 2009, main building electrical maintenance and safety diagnosis and repair of the rectory in 2014, and aging roof painting in 2018. The same source also states that by 1990 8 buildings had been newly built or extended.

Related Places and Figures

• Faith Relics Exhibition Hall: an exhibition hall opened on December 4, 1990 in the old rectory, opened to commemorate the 200 anniversary of Catholic evangelization in the Eonyang area. It exhibits more than 700 faith relics and folk artifacts, including a statue of the Heavenly Queen from the early 1800s, early Catholic evangelization books and catechisms, and the relics of St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon, St. Bishop Imbert and St. Fr. Chastan (Good News).
• Tomb of Martyr O Sang-seon: the tomb of Byeongin Persecution martyr O Sang-seon (great-grandson of O Han-u) on the mountain behind the church (Good News). Good News records that if one climbs near the summit of Hwaseongsan following the 14 Stations of the Cross installed in 2010, there is a Marian grotto.
• Jukrimgul Faith Historic Site: discovered on November 9, 1986 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, parish homepage). The Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture records that in Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun there are the Tomb of Agatha Kim, the Tomb of Kim Yeong-je, the Salti Faith Historic Site and the Jukrimgul Faith Historic Site, and in Eonyang-eup there are Eonyang Church and the Eonyang Faith Historic Site Relics Exhibition Hall.
• Ulsan (Boksan) Parish, Gupo Parish, Inbo Parish and Eonyang St. James Parish: parishes separated from Eonyang Parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture, parish homepage).
• Fr. Beaudevin (E. Beaudevin) (Korean name Jeong Do-pyeong): the first pastor who led the construction of the new church (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, National Heritage Digital Service).

References and Sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Eonyang Parish”. Establishment in 1926, jurisdiction and church statistics, successive priests, mission-chapel era, martyrs of the Byeongin Persecution, parish establishment and church blessing, later facilities.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/4313
2. Korean Studies Central Research Institute, Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture “Ulsan Eonyang Church and Rectory”. Church construction history, architectural form, present status and jurisdiction, cultural heritage designation and re-designation.
   https://www.grandculture.net/ulsan/toc/GC80050859
3. National Heritage Administration, National Heritage Digital Service “Ulsan Eonyang Church and Rectory”. Fr. Beaudevin’s arrival, groundbreaking ceremony in 1928, consecration ceremony in 1936, repair and name-change history.
   https://digital.khs.go.kr/heri/heriDetail.do?ctptNo=4412601030000&ctptUid=13898859680446301251
4. Good News Catholic Information, Eonyang Church in the Busan Diocese. Parish establishment and church construction, stone Gothic church, faith relics exhibition hall, tomb of Martyr O Sang-seon.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2328&menugubun=holyplace
5. Eonyang Catholic Church, Church History. Chronology from 1884 to 2023: parish establishment preparatory committee, parish creation in 1927, church construction and consecration, divided parishes, facilities and events.
   http://eonyang.pbcbs.co.kr/pbcbs_community_html/program/content.asp?BDIV=%EC%84%B1%EB%8B%B9%EC%97%B0%ED%98%81&MENUDIV=3&PCODE=41
6. Korean Studies Central Research Institute, Encyclopedia of Ulsan History and Culture “Catholicism”. Eonyang Parish as the first church in Ulsan, holy places and historic sites in Ulju-gun.
   https://www.grandculture.net/ulsan/toc/GC80001640