Seonjae

History & origins

The history of Seonjae Mission Station reaches back to the late 1950s, when Catholic missionary work in the islands around Incheon was being expanded. According to the entry on Dapdong Parish in the Catholic Encyclopedia of Korea, in 1958 Incheon, Bucheon, and the neighboring islands were separated from the Diocese of Seoul to form the Incheon Apostolic Vicariate’s predecessor jurisdiction, with pastoral responsibility entrusted to the Maryknoll missionaries. Father John Burke of Dapdong Parish then devoted particular effort to evangelization in the island communities.

In that context, Yeongheung, Seonjae, and Unseo-ri mission stations were established in 1959. Seonjae thus emerged as part of the expansion of Catholic mission to the islands of the West Sea shortly before Incheon became a fully established ecclesiastical jurisdiction. It remained under Dapdong Parish for a period, and in October 1992, when Daebudo Parish was separated and established, Seonjae and Yeongheung mission stations were transferred to the new parish.

Today the official Catholic directory in Korea still lists Seonjae as a mission station of the Diocese of Incheon, and the Bishops’ Conference guide presents it together with Yeongheung Parish. Its establishment in 1959 and the jurisdictional change in 1992 show how this small island community continued its Catholic life within the diocesan pastoral network even as the parish responsible for it changed over time.