Cheolwon Catholic Church

Overview

Cheorwon Church is a church in Ipyeong-ri, Dongsong-eup, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Chuncheon. The Catholic mission chapel started by believer Shin Dong-gyun (Stefano) in 1955 was elevated from a Catholic mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Jukrim-dong Parish to a parish and established on June 4, 1957, and its patron is the Epiphany of the Lord.

History

[Beginning of the Mission Chapel] According to the Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia, when Cheorwon-gun was recaptured during the 6-25 War, believer Shin Dong-gyun (Stefano), who had moved to Dongsong-eup, Cheorwon-gun in 1955, began mission chapel services together with about 10 people from 4-5 believing households. Shin Dong-gyun requested the Diocese of Chuncheon to send a priest, and it was established as a Catholic mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Jukrim-dong Church in the Diocese of Chuncheon, with Father Toma sent to celebrate Mass. The Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia records that Shin Dong-gyun began mission chapel services in his own house, Seungni Boarding House. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that after 1953, as residents gathered in the recaptured Cheorwon area and a tent village was formed, Shin Dong-gyun, who settled in Dongsong-eup in 1955, gathered fellow believers, began mission chapel activities in his own house, and notified the Diocese of Chuncheon, and the Diocese of Chuncheon designated the area as a mission chapel of Jukrim-dong Cathedral Parish and had a priest sent every month to celebrate Mass.

[Elevation to Parish] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia and the Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia, in 1957, the church and the rectory were built with prefabricated building materials brought from Japan under the United States postwar reconstruction aid program (the Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia gives February 1957). In the same year, on June 4, it was elevated to a parish, and Father Peter Cronin (P. Cronin, No) took office as the first pastor. At the time of its elevation to parish status, its jurisdiction covered Cheorwon-eup, Galmal-myeon and Dongsong-myeon in Cheorwon-gun and Gwanin-myeon in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do, and the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia lists its affiliated mission chapels as the Jipori, Yonghwa-dong, Munhye-ri and Gwanin mission chapels.

[Spin-off and Transfer of Mission Chapels] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, it spun off Gimhwa Parish in 1959, and in 1970 it transferred the Jipori, Gwanin and Munhye-ri mission chapels under its jurisdiction to Uncheon Parish. The Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia records that on November 20, 1970, as the Uncheon mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Pocheon Parish was elevated to a parish, 4 mission chapels that had been under the jurisdiction of Cheorwon Church were transferred to Uncheon Parish.

[Daemari Mission Chapel] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, after purchasing a site of 130 pyeong in Daema-ri, Cheorwon-eup in 1970, a mission chapel was prepared at Easter in 1971. The Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia records that Father Kim Jeong-sik (Thomas), who took office in 1969, began construction of a mission chapel in Daema-ri (the entry "Cheorwon Church" records completion in 1970, and the entry "Cheorwon Church Daema Mission Chapel" records completion and establishment on April 1971), and that Daemari Hyanggun-chon was a village formed by the settlement of 150 households from Cheorwon-gun and Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do in 1967.

[New Church and Later Activities] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the new church building was completed on August 1985. At the National Convention for the Day of Prayer for National Reconciliation and Unity held in 2000 under the auspices of the Diocese of Chuncheon, the believers of Cheorwon Parish joined believers of nearby parishes in activities such as guiding the event, and in 2001 they held the ‘Small Midnight Concert’ for harmony among believers and fellowship with neighboring communities. The Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia records that from June 2016 to the 4 to the 5th, the photo exhibition "Cheorwon Church Photo Exhibition Embracing 60 Years of History" was held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Cheorwon Church.

[Church Statistics and Successive Pastors] The church statistics recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are 1,587 people in 1968, 991 people in 1976, 1,328 people in 1984, 1,560 people in 1990, 1,611 people in 1995, 1,848 people in 2001, and 1,919 people in 2004, and its jurisdiction covers 14 ri in Cheorwon-eup, Cheorwon-gun, 35 ri in Dongsong-eup, and 1 ri in Galmal-eup. The successive pastors are the first Peter Cronin (1957-1962.10), the 2 James O’Brien (In) (1962.10-1963.10), the 3 Hubert Hayward (O) (1963.10-1967), the 4 Cornelius Murphy (Jeon) (1967-1967.11), the 5 John Roche (Ji) (1967.11-1969.11), the 6 Thomas Kim Jeong-sik (1969.11-1973), the 7 Patrick Bannon (Ban) (1973-1975), the 8 Gerard Dunn (Son) (1975-1979.5), the 9 Gavin Connolly (Go) (1979.5-1983.5), the 10 John the Baptist Cheon Sin-gi (1983.5-1990.1), the 11 James Song Byeong-cheol (1990.1-1995.8), the 12 Gabriel O Se-cheol (1995.8-2000.2), the 13 John Lee Sang-cheol (2000.2-2003.9), and the 14 Peter Song Mun-sik (2003.9-) (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia lists the present number of believers as about 1,400 and its affiliated mission chapel as the Daemari Mission Chapel.

Related Places and People

• Cheorwon Church Daema Mission Chapel: It is a mission chapel belonging to Cheorwon Church located in Hyanggun-chon (Durumi Peace Village), Daema-ri, Cheorwon-eup. According to the Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia, after the 6-25 War, Cheorwon Church established a mission chapel in a village where discharged soldiers and local residents were settled on the model of Israel’s collective farm ‘kibbutz’ for the purpose of expanding farmland near the ceasefire line and increasing food production. It records that, as it lies inside the Civilian Control Line, soldiers also participate in Mass and about 100 believers carry on faith activities.
• Gimhwa Church: It is a church that Cheorwon Church spun off as a parish in 1959 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia).
• Uncheon Church: It is a parish that received mission chapels under the jurisdiction of Cheorwon Church in 1970. The Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia records that the Uncheon mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Pocheon Parish was elevated to a parish on November 20, 1970.
• Jukrim-dong Church (Chuncheon): It is the parish that had jurisdiction over the Cheorwon mission chapel before it was elevated to a parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Korean Church History Research Institute, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia "Cheorwon Parish" (Vol. 11). Elevation to parish on June 4, 1957, patron, jurisdiction and mission chapels, church statistics, successive priests, mission chapel period, spin-off and transfer of mission chapels, completion of the new church in 1985.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/5946
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia "Cheorwon Church". Shin Dong-gyun’s start of the mission chapel, construction of the church and elevation to parish in 1957, spin-off of Gimhwa Church, transfer of mission chapels to Uncheon Parish, new church in 1985, 60th anniversary photo exhibition in 2016.
   https://www.grandculture.net/cheorwon/toc/GC07800916
3. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia "Cheorwon Church Daema Mission Chapel". Establishment of Daema Mission Chapel and Hyanggun-chon on April 1971, and present status.
   https://www.grandculture.net/cheorwon/toc/GC07800921