Dongmyeong Catholic Church

History & origins

Dongmyeong Parish was established on July 5, 1978, the date recorded in the official directory of the Archdiocese of Daegu. With an independent parish territory centered on Dongmyeong-myeon in Chilgok, local Catholics were able to continue a more regular liturgical and sacramental life within a parish led by a resident priest. The official sources reviewed here, however, do not provide enough evidence to state with certainty what mission-station stage or mother-parish relationship preceded the establishment.

In 2018 the parish celebrated the 40th anniversary of its establishment with a Mass of Thanksgiving. In the anniversary homily, an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese reflected on the parish’s forty years and called the community to share with the poor and marginalized. The establishment in 1978 and the 40th-anniversary celebration in 2018 are firm chronological points confirming the long continuity of the Catholic community in the Dongmyeong area.

The present structure, in which the parish also has pastoral responsibility for Namwon Mission Station, shows that Catholic ministry in the Dongmyeong area continues to connect the parish center with surrounding rural communities. Rather than an unverified architectural chronology, the verifiable establishment, the 40th anniversary, and the continuing mission-station relationship form the clearest outline of Dongmyeong’s history.