Haenam Cathedral

History & origins

The Catholic community in the Haean area took shape amid postwar changes in civil administration and parish jurisdiction. According to the Diocese of Chuncheon, Haean-myeon was incorporated into Inje-gun in 1954 and the local Catholic community became a mission station under Inje Parish. After Haean-ri was transferred to Yanggu-gun in 1973, the mission station was placed under Yanggu Parish in 1974.

As the mission community grew, its old building became too small and deteriorated. A new church was built in 1993 and was dedicated that November in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Thomas Park. This is the building that continues to serve Haean Parish today. With further growth of the community and increasing pastoral needs in the area, the move toward establishing an independent parish followed.

On March 1, 2013, Haean Mission Station was elevated to a parish with St. Luke as its patron. It began with 95 households and 202 Catholics, and Dongmyeon and Bangsan mission stations, previously under Yanggu Parish, were transferred to the new parish. This created a single pastoral structure serving Haean-myeon, Bangsan-myeon, and Dong-myeon, carrying the history of a mission community that developed into a parish into the present day.

The elevation was more than a change of name. It brought the long-standing Catholic communities of Haean, Dongmyeon, and Bangsan, previously organized around mission stations, into an independent parish structure. Continuing to use the church prepared during the mission period while reorganizing pastoral jurisdiction makes Haean Parish a clear example of local Catholic growth accompanied by diocesan administrative change.