Uncheon Catholic Church

History & origins

The Catholic community in Uncheon began as a mission station of Uijeongbu Parish. After the Korean War, a military chaplain serving units stationed in the Pocheon area celebrated Mass and cared for the community. When Pocheon Mission Station was elevated to a parish in 1954, Uncheon became a mission station under Pocheon Parish.

On the night of December 28, 1967, the mission-station building was destroyed by fire. With support from Pocheon Parish, a new site was obtained and a new mission chapel of about forty pyeong was built. It was blessed on September 1, 1968, by Archbishop Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, then Archbishop of Seoul. When Pocheon Parish was transferred to the Diocese of Chuncheon in 1969, Uncheon Mission Station was transferred with it.

Uncheon Mission Station was elevated to a parish on November 17, 1970. At that time, the Gwanin, Jipori, Munhye-ri, and Yangmun mission stations were placed under the new parish, making it a pastoral center for the western region. The old mission building continued to be used for years, but a church-building committee was formed in 1990, and a new church was eventually dedicated by Bishop John Chang Yik on March 6, 1995.

The changes at Uncheon also reflect the postwar reorganization of pastoral structures in a border region. Its passage from a mission station of Uijeongbu Parish, to one under Pocheon Parish, and finally to a parish of the Diocese of Chuncheon shows how the Catholic community was reorganized according to pastoral needs and regional realities rather than civil boundaries alone. The transfer of several mission stations to the new parish at the time of its elevation signaled Uncheon’s establishment as an independent pastoral center for the western area.