Gwi-rae

History & origins

The Guide to the Catholic Church in Korea records Gwirae Mission Station as a mission station of the Diocese of Wonju founded in 1947. For many years Catholics in Gwirae-myeon continued their faith around the mission station at a distance from the parish church, and as time passed the need to replace an old and limited facility with a new chapel became an important task for the community. A recent Catholic Peace Newspaper account says that the project was realized through long preparation and sacrifice by local believers.

To raise money for a new mission station, local Catholics saved funds for years through farming and other shared efforts. Their savings alone were insufficient for the full construction cost, but assistance from the parish responsible at the time and from benefactors made the project possible. Work began in August 2008, and the new mission-station building was completed and dedicated by Bishop Jacobus Kim Ji-seok on November 26 of the same year.

The present building is a one-story chapel of about 148 square meters, with the altar area, space for confession and vestments, a statue of Mary, and other features needed for the community's liturgy and prayer. Its windows include stained-glass images of a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit, giving liturgical symbolism to the small mission-station space. After Heungeop Parish was established, Gwirae became one of its mission stations, creating the present pastoral relationship.

The meaning of Gwirae's history lies not only in its old foundation date, but in the way a small community prepared a new place of faith over many years. Even as parish structures and rural living conditions changed, local Catholics maintained relationships around the mission station, and more recent accounts also record the participation of Catholics who have moved to the countryside or returned to farming as part of the community's newer composition.