Idong Church

History & origins

According to the official directory of the Archdiocese of Daegu, Idong Parish was established on June 28, 2002. It was created during a period of continuing residential development and growth in the Catholic population of southern Pohang, giving Catholics in the Idong area a stable base for parish life within an independent community.

A contemporary article in the archdiocesan magazine Light records that, by the time a new pastor arrived in 2004, Idong Parish had already been asked to prepare for another parish division. It reports that the number of registered Catholics rose from about 3,200 to about 4,000 within a year, while Mass attendance also increased, prompting concrete plans for a new church in the Jigok area. The parish was therefore preparing to give birth to another community only a short time after its own establishment.

The same source explains that Catholics in Jigok had successively belonged to Jukdo, Daehae, Daejam, Yeonil, and Idong parishes as urban development and pastoral boundaries changed. The early history of Idong Parish should therefore be understood not simply as the founding of one new parish, but as part of a broader reorganization of pastoral districts in step with Pohang's urban growth. Preparations for the separation of Jigok show that Idong quickly came to serve as a mother parish supporting the formation of another local Catholic community.