Hagae Mission Station

History & origins

Catholic life in the Boeun area, weakened during the persecutions, began to form again in the late nineteenth century. The Catholic Encyclopedia of Korea explains that around 1897–1898 Fr. Bouillon of Janghowon Parish visited Catholic potters in the Boeun region and identified communities such as Seonnyeosil, Gaseup, and Hwangtomal. Catholic life continued around a number of rural outstations, and the Hagae community developed within this broader revival.

The Hagae outstation is recorded as having been established in February 1939, together with Songjuk Outstation, under the then Cheongju Parish. In 1948 the Boeun area was again placed under Okcheon Parish, leaving the local outstations within a very large parish territory. Pastoral distance and the growth of the local Catholic population increased the need for a separate parish centered on Boeun.

On October 1, 1955, Boeun Parish was separated from Okcheon Parish, and both Songjuk and Hagae outstations were transferred to the new parish. This gave the Hagae community a stable place within the pastoral structure of the local Church. Its continued listing in the present Diocese of Cheongju directory shows that the Catholic community formed in the colonial period endured through later changes in parish jurisdiction and has remained part of the Church in the Boeun region.