Cheonbu Catholic Church

History & origins

Catholic community life on Ulleungdo began to take shape with the arrival of settlers in the late nineteenth century. There was a period when contact with missionaries was interrupted, but the community gained new vitality after Pius Hyeon Jae-ryong settled in Cheonbu in 1955 and began evangelization. In 1957, a diocesan priest visiting Ulleungdo landed at Cheonbu and celebrated Mass at Cheonbu Elementary School. By 1958 the mission-station house had been enlarged as the Catholic community grew.

After Dodong, the first parish on Ulleungdo, was established in 1960, efforts began to raise Cheonbu Mission Station to parish status. In 1965 land for a church was secured with assistance from an Austrian Catholic organization and construction began. On January 1, 1966, before the church building was finished, Cheonbu was established as a parish. The church was completed in October 1968, giving the Catholic community in the northern part of the island a stable parish base.

In the early 1970s, however, typhoon damage, difficulties in the fishing harbor, population decline, and a shortage of priests made parish operation difficult. In 1975 Cheonbu reverted to a mission station under Dodong Parish. A rectory was built in 1990, and with the arrival of a priest in July 1992 it was restored as a parish. An education building was completed in 1993. Cheonbu’s history shows a community repeatedly rebuilding its Catholic foundations amid the practical challenges of island life, population change, and limited clergy.