Gwangbuk Cathedral

History & origins

Gwangbuk Parish was established on January 30, 1998 as a new parish in the Gwangmyeong area of the Diocese of Suwon. At the time, Catholic population growth and urban residential expansion were leading to the subdivision of existing parish territories, and Gwangbuk began as an independent community within that broader process.

The parish took St. Augustine as its patron and began to provide its own liturgical and sacramental life for Catholics in northern Gwangmyeong. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea directory confirms the founding date and patron, providing a consistent basic chronology for the parish.

In October 2023, the diocesan schedule recorded a Mass marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of Gwangbuk Parish. A quarter century represents a full generation of parish life and shows how the community, originally created as one of several new parishes in the expanding Gwangmyeong area, became an established local church. Its history is closely tied to the gradual subdivision of pastoral territories as Catholic life in Gwangmyeong grew.