Jungmun Catholic Church

History & origins

The Catholic community in Jungmun began to take formal shape in 1955, when a mission station was established under Seogwipo Parish. On August 15, 1956, the community obtained a mission chapel and gave it the name “Gate of Heaven Mission Station.” In its early years it developed not as an independent parish but as a mission community under the pastoral care of a Seogwipo-area parish.

On November 9, 1970, when Seogwipo Jungang Parish was newly separated and established, the Jungmun mission station was transferred to the new parish. As the local community continued to grow, the foundations were gradually laid for its eventual elevation from mission-station status to a parish.

On February 10, 1988, Jungmun Mission Station was raised to Jungmun Parish. At the same time, the territory of Yerae Mission Station was incorporated into the new parish, forming the basis of its present jurisdiction. The sequence from the mission station’s establishment in 1955, the chapel in 1956, the jurisdictional change in 1970, and the parish elevation in 1988 shows how the Catholic community of Jungmun gradually developed into an independent parish structure.