Gangseo-dong Cathedral

History & origins

Gangseo-dong Parish began in May 1993 when about 600 Catholics separated from Bokdae-dong Parish. Its first pastor, Fr. Seo Jeong-hyeok, celebrated the community's first Mass in a Daerim apartment building in Gangseo-dong, and the Diocese of Cheongju records May 1, 1993 as the parish establishment date. The new community thus began without a permanent church of its own.

From the following year, the parish moved toward establishing an independent church building. In August 1994, a prefabricated building of about 146 pyeong was erected at the present site, allowing full parish activity to begin there, and in 1995 a church construction committee was organized. After planning and construction, the present church was consecrated in May 2000. A community that had begun in temporary space had obtained a permanent church in roughly seven years.

Growth continued even after the church was completed, leading to another adjustment of pastoral territory. The Digital Cheongju Culture Encyclopedia records that Habokdae Catholic Church was separated from Gangseo-dong Parish in August 2002 as the Catholic community expanded. The history of Gangseo-dong Parish therefore follows a clear sequence: separation from Bokdae-dong, construction of its own church, and later the formation of another parish from its territory, reflecting the parallel growth of population and parish structures in western Cheongju.