Iwon Catholic Church

History & origins

The Catholic community in Iwon began as a mission station long before the establishment of the parish. A local historical account states that Iwon Mission Station, under Okcheon Parish, began in 1929 at a pottery settlement in Daeheung-ri. As the number of Catholics increased after the Korean War, a chapel for Iwon Mission Station was prepared and blessed in Gangcheong-ri in 1956. A photograph of a funeral rite at Iwon Mission Station under Okcheon Parish in February 1961 also survives, demonstrating that the community was active at that time.

The mission-station community continued for many years under the pastoral care of Okcheon Parish before becoming an independent parish in 1998. The Diocese of Cheongju's official parish information records June 24, 1998, as the establishment date of Iwon Parish. The local account likewise reports that Iwon Mission Station was elevated to a parish in 1998 and received its first resident priest, confirming the transition from a mission station to a parish community with a resident pastor.

Changes to the physical setting continued after the parish was established. In 2011 the community moved to its present location and dedicated a new church. The history of Iwon therefore runs from a small mission station of the 1920s, through the provision of a chapel and growth into an independent parish, to the establishment of the present church. This development illustrates how a rural mission-station community sustained its faith over many decades and grew into a parish.