Gacheon Catholic Church

Overview

Gacheon Church is a church in Gacheon-myeon, Seongju-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, belonging to the Archdiocese of Daegu. It is a church elevated to a parish from the jurisdiction of Seongju Church, originating as the Gacheon Catholic mission chapel begun around 1954, and its patron is Our Lady of Fatima. Sources record the date of elevation as either March 19, 1960 or April 22, 1961.

History

[Beginning of the mission chapel] The Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia states that Catholic evangelization in the Gacheon area began around 1954 through Seo Malda, who had migrated from Daegu, and that Seo Malda passed on the faith to local people such as Kang Sin-ho, O Bong-geum and Yi Serena. As believers increased, Seo Malda proposed to Father Wang Reginaldo of Seongju Church in 1955 that a Catholic mission chapel was needed in the Gacheon area, and on that occasion the house of Myeon Chief Mr. Pak, formerly the site of a convent, was purchased to establish the Gacheon mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Seongju Church. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia describes the Gacheon area as a secluded place belonging to Seongju Parish that had already been established as a Catholic mission chapel in 1954 by Father Wang Reginald.

[Elevation to parish] The date of elevation to parish differs by source. The Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia states that, as the Legion was founded and evangelization became active, the Gacheon mission chapel was elevated to Gacheon Church on March 19, 1960, and Father Jeong Han-guk took office as pastor, and the parish information of the Archdiocese of Daegu also gives the foundation date as March 19, 1960. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that in the early 1960s Father Jeong Hwan-guk Aloysius, then serving in Seongju Parish, built the church in cooperation with the faithful with building funds helped by West German faithful, that the new church was blessed on April 22, 1961 by Monsignor Vitrelli Yi Seong-do Timoteo of Waegwan Abbey, and that the Diocese of Daegu accordingly elevated the place to a parish under the jurisdiction of the Order of Saint Benedict. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia gives the number of faithful at that time as 650 and the number of Catholic mission chapels as 7. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia entry “Seongju Parish,” on the history of Seongju Church, also states that on April 22, 1961 the Gacheon mission chapel was elevated to a parish and the registers of 7 Catholic mission chapels and 650 faithful were transferred from Seongju Parish.

[Later development] The Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia states that Gacheon Church established and cared for the Masu, Bowol, Dongwon, Geumsu and Ocheon Catholic mission chapels and newly built the buildings of the Chaenggi and Suryun mission chapels. In 1964 it erected the bell tower of the church, in 1967 it newly built the hall, and in 1979 it began publishing the parish bulletin and built the youth education center. In 1982 it built the grotto of Our Lady, and in 1983 it built the convent. From the 1980s it held a faith school and pilgrimage activities every summer and winter, and in 1993 it organized the pastoral council. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that in 1966 it blessed the hall of the Ocheon mission chapel under its jurisdiction, and that from the late 1970s it had suffered difficulties from the rural exodus and frequent changes of parish priests. According to the Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia, on August 15, 2011 it completed the new church building and held the dedication Mass.

[Jurisdiction and statistics] The jurisdiction recorded by the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia is the entire areas of Gacheon-myeon, Suryun-myeon and Geumsu-myeon in Seongju-gun, part of Daega-myeon, and part of Unsu-myeon in Goryeong-gun, with 11 Catholic mission chapels at Dongwon, Beopjeon, Singye, Geumsu, Neukbawi, Chaenggi, Jeoksan, Suryun, Bowol, Ocheon and Songgye, and the statistics are 1,496 faithful in 1989 and 1,899 faithful in 1993. The Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia states that as of 2019 the number of faithful is 698 in 324 households and the mission chapels under its jurisdiction total 23, of which 7 mission chapels at Geumsu, Chaenggi, Neokbawi, Dongwon, Bowol, Songgye and Suryun retain their functions, while only the sites remain of the Jeoksan, Meokbang, Masu and Singye mission chapels and the Ocheon and Beopjeon mission chapels cannot be used. The jurisdictional area is Gacheon-myeon, Geumsu-myeon and Suryun-myeon, and Daecheon-ri, Donam-ri and Okhwa-ri in Daega-myeon.

[Successive pastors] The successive priests recorded by the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are the first pastor Jeong Hwan-guk Aloysius (1961.4–1964.9), the 2 pastor Doepler Egbert Döpler Egbert (1964.12–1972.1), the 3 pastor Seo Gyeong-yun Alberto (1972.1–1972.5), the 4 pastor Zenglein Josef Zenglein Joseph (1972.5–1978.7), the 5 pastor Pak Chang-ho Joseph (1978.7–1980.5), the 6 pastor Heo Yeon-gu Moyses (1980.5–1982.1), the 7 pastor Choe Hong-deok Jacobus (1982.1–1986.1), the 8 pastor Choe Chang-ho Jacobus (1986.1–1987.6), the 9 pastor Jeong Hong-gyu Augustinus (1987.6–1989.6), the 10 pastor Yi Jeong-hyo Hieronymus (1989.6–1993.10), and the 11 pastor Pak Seung-jae Aloysius (1993.10–). The name of the first priest is written differently as ‘Jeong Hwan-guk’ in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia and ‘Jeong Han-guk’ in the Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia.

Related places and persons

• Seongju Church: the mother parish that had jurisdiction over the Gacheon mission chapel and elevated it to Gacheon Church (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia).
• Waegwan Abbey of the Order of Saint Benedict: the abbey to which Monsignor Vitrelli, who blessed Gacheon Church, belonged, and the parish was under the jurisdiction of the Order of Saint Benedict at the time of elevation (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Gacheon-area mission chapels: the mission chapels at Geumsu, Chaenggi, Neokbawi, Dongwon, Bowol, Songgye and Suryun retain their functions (Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia).

References and sources

1. Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, “Gacheon Parish” (Vol. 1). Separated and founded from Seongju Parish on April 22, 1961, mission-chapel beginning in 1954, building funds from West German faithful, jurisdictional area and mission chapels, statistics, successive priests.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/64
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia “Gacheon Church”. Beginning of evangelization around 1954, elevation on March 19, 1960, bell tower, hall, grotto of Our Lady and convent, new church in 2011, status in 2019.
   https://www.grandculture.net/seongju/toc/GC08400998
3. Catholic Archdiocese of Daegu, parish information “Gacheon Church”. Foundation date March 19, 1960, patron Our Lady of Fatima.
   https://www.daegu-archdiocese.or.kr/page/area.html?menu=c4&number=11&premenu=c1&srl=church_search&y_id=11
4. Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, “Seongju Parish” (Vol. 7). Statement that on April 22, 1961 the Gacheon mission chapel was elevated to a parish and the registers of 7 mission chapels and 650 faithful were transferred.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/3464