Central Tower Catholic Church

History & origins

The official records of the Diocese of Cheongju and the Catholic Directory in Korea both give August 16, 2018, as the date Jungangtap Parish was established. A Catholic news report on the creation of the parish at that time states that the new parish was organized for a pastoral territory that included Jungangtap-myeon, part of Daesowon-myeon in the West Chungju Enterprise City, and Gageum Mission Station, and that Father Kim Han-su was appointed its first pastor. Blessed Paul Yi Guk-seung was chosen as the patron.

The establishment of Jungangtap Parish was the process of organizing the Catholic community that had formed in the new residential and daily-life area of western Chungju into a separate parish. Records of the community size and pastoral territory at the time of foundation show how the diocesan pastoral structure expanded in response to the growth of the new urban area. Jungangtap later became an established parish of the Chungju District of the Diocese of Cheongju, while continuing the patronal devotion to Blessed Paul Yi Guk-seung chosen at its foundation.