Cathedral

History & origins

The origins of Central Cathedral reach back to the period immediately after Korea’s liberation, when the Catholic community of Busan’s old downtown needed an independent parish. Local historical reporting states that the Church obtained a religious building formerly used by Japanese residents, renovated its interior, blessed it as a Catholic church on June 20, 1948, and then established Daechong-dong Parish on August 1 of that year by separating it from Busanjin Parish. This provided a stable parish base for Catholics in the Jung-gu area.

In May 1957, the parish was renamed Central Catholic Church. The new name reflected its location in the administrative and commercial heart of Busan, and as the Diocese of Busan grew the church served for many years as the cathedral. Until Namcheon was proclaimed the new cathedral, Central Cathedral was the principal venue for many of the diocese’s large liturgies and events.

The church continued to be developed as both a downtown parish and a symbolic place in the history of the diocese. Records note that in 1990 a pipe organ donated by Brügel Parish in the Diocese of Münster, Germany, was installed, leaving a visible trace of international Church ties in the liturgical culture of the cathedral.

Even after Namcheon assumed the principal cathedral function, Central remained a co-cathedral. Its history can therefore be read as a progression from the founding of a downtown parish after liberation, through its long service as a diocesan cathedral, to the preservation of its historical centrality within the present co-cathedral arrangement. The changes experienced by Central Cathedral also paralleled the urban growth of Busan’s Catholic community. A small post-liberation community established a parish in the old downtown, the church later became the diocesan cathedral, and it eventually remained as a co-cathedral sharing functions with Namcheon. That sequence developed together with the widening organization and pastoral reach of the Diocese of Busan.