Weekly Mass Schedule
Korean
Select a Mass time to view sources or report a change.
About this place
Yangdeokwon Catholic Church is a parish of the Central District in the Diocese of Chuncheon and is dedicated to Saints Simon and Jude. Centered on Nam-myeon in Hongcheon County, it serves the local faithful through Mass and the sacraments while continuing a Catholic tradition rooted in villages of believers and mission stations formed after the Byeongin Persecution. The parish was once known as Sugok-ri or Mulgubi Parish before taking its present name, Yangdeokwon.
The parish carries the history of a rural Catholic community that grew from a mission station into an independent parish and rebuilt its church after losing it during the Korean War. Although its present name and location were established through changes in the 1960s, its roots reach much further back into the Catholic villages of the region. Understanding Yangdeokwon Church therefore requires seeing not only the date of parish foundation but also the longer continuity of Catholic life in southern Hongcheon.
History & origins
The roots of the Catholic community in Yangdeokwon reach back to around 1866, after the Byeongin Persecution. Catholics who fled persecution settled in Galgi-ri, making their living through slash-and-burn farming and pottery, and gradually formed a Catholic village. When Pungsuwon Parish was established in 1888, Galgi-ri Mission Station was formally organized and remained under its pastoral care for many years.
The mission community was elevated to a parish on September 5, 1948, with the arrival of Fr. Ju Jae-yong. At the time it was known as Mulgubi Parish and had about 300 faithful. During the Korean War, however, the wooden church building was destroyed, and the community had to pass through a period of rebuilding after the war.
To provide for the parish’s long-term development, a new church was constructed on land that had already been acquired, and the parish moved there in November 1962. At the same time, its name was changed from Mulgubi to Yangdeokwon. The history of Yangdeokwon Parish thus runs from a Catholic village formed by people fleeing persecution, through the mission-station period and elevation to a parish, to postwar reconstruction and the establishment of its present name and location.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Yangdeokwon Catholic Church: history and architecture
Read about the place's history, architecture, people, and events in the Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia articles are currently available in Korean.
Would you like to record this place in your pilgrimage passport?
Sign in to keep this record with you.
Accessibility information
Accessibility information is not available yet. Please check with the location before visiting.
Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Diocese source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
- Last updated
- Source
- Francisco Diary
Diocese
Chuncheon Diocese (Diocese of Chuncheon)
Official website: http://www.cccatholic.or.kr
Help verify information
Did the Mass schedule or church information change?
Let us know if you confirmed the displayed information or noticed something different.
Information Status: Official source
Visited here? Share details about toilets, parking or ramps.
Sign in to leave a visitor check.
Sign in to confirm the schedule or report a change.
Reports are saved for review. Mass times are changed after evidence such as official sources is checked, not automatically based on visitor confirmations.