Nae-myeon Catholic Church

History & origins

The Catholic community in Naemyeon began in 1955, when four Catholic households under Hongcheon Parish gathered in the home of one believer for mission-station prayers. After Seoseok Parish was separated from Hongcheon Parish, Naemyeon Mission Station came under Seoseok Parish, and the community continued to celebrate Sunday Mass during its years as a mission station.

Naemyeon Mission Station was elevated to a parish on January 29, 1998, becoming Naemyeon St. Isidore Parish. In its early parish years, improving rural life was one of its pastoral priorities. The parish helped connect agricultural products grown by parishioners directly with urban Catholics and parishes so that local producers could receive a fair price.

An extension of the existing church began in August 1998 and was completed in October, but later ground problems made the building unstable and led to plans for a new church. Parishioners raised funds in part by selling produce they had grown themselves. The new church was dedicated on April 18, 2014, in a liturgy presided over by Bishop Luke Kim Woon-hoe.

This history shows the growth of a small mission-station community into a parish and the gradual rebuilding of its church and pastoral foundations in response to the needs of the local rural community.