Goa Catholic Church

History & origins

Goa Parish was established in August 2003 at the site of the former Goa mission station by bringing together the Goa community with Yeonheung Mission Station in Sinchon, Songnim Mission Station, and Bonghan Mission Station. Official information from the Archdiocese of Daegu gives August 29, 2003 as the establishment date. The reorganization of several mission stations into one parish reflects the growth of Catholic communities in the Goa area and the need for an independent pastoral center.

In its early years, the parish adapted existing facilities. In 2005 it purchased a four-story building next to the former mission station and used it as the church, education center, and rectory. As the parish became established and the need for space increased, plans for a new church moved forward; in the mid-2010s a church-building committee was organized and fundraising and preparation began in earnest.

The new church was dedicated on August 27, 2017, fourteen years after the parish was founded. The Archdiocese records that Archbishop Thaddeus Cho Hwan-kil presided at the dedication and that the new church was built as a two-story structure. The movement from several mission-station communities centered on Goa, through adapted multipurpose facilities, to a dedicated new church clearly illustrates the development of Goa from a mission-station setting into an established parish.

According to the Archdiocese’s record of the dedication, the new church was built as a two-story steel-reinforced concrete structure with seating for about 300 people. Its exterior was designed to evoke the Church as the ‘ark of salvation,’ while stained-glass images in the windows, rose window, and Holy Family image at the entrance represent the dove, the Holy Spirit, the coming of Jesus, and the Holy Family. The community’s development from a mission-station setting to a parish with its own church therefore involved not only expanded facilities but also the creation of a distinct liturgical space and symbolic identity.