Jijoa Catholic Church

Overview

Jijwa Church is a church of the Archdiocese of Daegu located in Jijwa-dong, Gimcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia describes the Majam area as known as the birthplace of the Church in the Gimcheon region, stating that after the Majam mission chapel was established in 1913, it was separated from Gimcheon Parish (now Hwanggeum-dong) on June 16, 1935 and erected as a parish. Its patron is the Ascension of Jesus.

History

[Coming of the faith to the Majam area] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that the Gospel began to spread in Majam, a post-station town of Gimcheon in the Joseon period, when the family of the father of Seo Sang-don (Augustinus) came there as refugees before the Byeongin Persecution. In 1866, at the time of the Byeongin Persecution, believers who fled from Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheong-do, Sacheon in Gyeongsangnam-do and other places formed Catholic villages in several places in the Gimcheon area, and Majam was one of them. The oldest surviving written record showing that a faith community existed in this area is that Fr. M. Jozeau (Jo Deuk-ha) of Busan Parish (now Beomil), which then had jurisdiction over this area, visited Majam in 1892 and administered the sacraments, when there were 20 believers. From this, the Encyclopedia explains that the faith had spread and a community existed at least by the 1880s.

[Changes of jurisdiction and the Majam mission chapel] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, when Gasil Parish (now Naksan) was separated and erected from Daegu Parish in 1894, this area came under the jurisdiction of Gasil Parish, and when Fr. Kim Seong-hak (Alexius), the 2 pastor of Gasil Parish, founded Gimcheon Parish in 1901, the Majam area came under the jurisdiction of Gimcheon Parish. In 1913, when the father of believer Kim Ok-bae moved into downtown Gimcheon, he donated to the Church a total of 304 pyeong of land (now lots 396-400 in Jijwa-dong) together with a thatched house, and believers gathered in this thatched house to hold Sunday observance, thus establishing the Majam mission chapel. On the donated site were built a church (43.3 pyeong), a rectory (5 pyeong), a hall and residence (35.5 pyeong) and others, and a village school was opened in the hall to teach the believers’ children to read and write. The encyclopedia entry includes a captioned photograph stating that Bishop Demange visited the Majam mission chapel on December 1, 1915.

[Erection as a parish] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that as the number of believers grew while the pastors of Gimcheon Parish celebrated the mission liturgies, it was raised to a parish on June 1935, with Fr. Kim Dong-eon appointed as the first pastor, and the parish name was fixed as ‘Jijwa’ at that time. The foundation date June 16, 1935 is also listed in the address book of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea and in the parish information of the Archdiocese of Daegu. During the tenure of Fr. Kim Dong-eon, in 1936, a great flood caused very severe damage to the mission chapels belonging to the parish, including Muhak-dong, Gwangam-dong, Seonmugi (Seonmuteo), Meokbangi and Neukbawi, and Fr. Kim sent hundreds of letters requesting relief funds to acquaintances and distributed relief money not only to believers in each region but even to non-believers.

[Late colonial period and reversion to a mission chapel] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the 3 pastor, Fr. Choe Jae-seon, held out to the end when Japanese officials in the late colonial period forced the church to offer its bell and sacred objects, and received as a donation from the father of believer Kim Sang-hwan the present parish site and the church cemetery and fields of 1,200 pyeong (now the site of Seongui Middle School and Comprehensive High School). After Fr. Choe Jae-seon was transferred on May 1945, no priest could be dispatched, so Jijwa Parish became a mission chapel under Gimcheon Parish, and during the more than 10 years spanning Liberation and the Korean War there was no notable change.

[Re-elevation and construction of a new church building] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that after the Waegwan Vicariate was established in 1952, Fr. Kim Seong-hwan (Victorio) of the Waegwan Order of Saint Benedict, who took office as principal of Seongui Middle and High Schools in Jijwa-dong on March 1956, celebrated Sunday Mass every week at the Jijwa mission chapel, and that the Jijwa mission chapel was re-elevated to Jijwa-dong Parish on August 1970, with Fr. Choe Yeong-ho appointed as the 4 pastor. Until the pastoral jurisdiction over 4 parishes in the Gimcheon area (Jijwa-dong, Hwanggeum-dong, Pyeonghwa-dong and Jirye) passed from the Waegwan Vicariate to the Archdiocese of Daegu in 1984, priests including Fr. Ham Jeong-tae and Fr. Kim Jong-pil served as pastors. The 8 pastor, Fr. Yeo Chang-hwan, demolished the existing wooden building on April 1987 and began construction, holding the dedication ceremony on May 1, 1988.

[After the 1990s] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, during the tenure of the 13 pastor, Fr. Kim Du-chan, Jijwa-dong Parish opened a senior service center in cooperation with 3 parishes in the Gimcheon area on October 1999, and on February 2000 took part in the joint street evangelization group launched by 5 parishes in the Gimcheon area as part of their common pastoral ministry. During the tenure of the 14 pastor, Fr. Kim Myeong-seop, in the summer of 2002, a typhoon damaged the rectory and the convent and washed away the believers’ farmland, and the Encyclopedia notes that the parish is striving for evangelization activities befitting its standing as the birthplace of Catholicism in the Gimcheon area.

[Jurisdiction and statistics] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia gives the jurisdiction as the entire areas of Jijwa-dong, Deokgok-dong, Nongso-myeon and Nam-myeon in Gimcheon-si and parts of Joma-myeon, Gamcheon-myeon and Apo-myeon, and gives the number of believers as 830 in 1972, 1,015 in 1977, 1,193 in 1982, 1,338 in 1987, 1,789 in 1992, 1,634 in 1997, and 1,831 in 2002. The address book of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea gives the present jurisdiction as the entire areas of Deokgok-dong and Jijwa-dong in Gimcheon-si and parts of Gamcheon-myeon and Joma-myeon (Daebang-ri and Samsan-ri), the number of believers as 979, the number of mission chapels as 1, and the affiliated religious congregation as the Mirinae Sisters of the Holy Heart of Mary.

[Successive pastors] The successive priests as given by the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are: the first, Peter Kim Dong-eon (1935.6-1939.5), the 2 Benedict Go Gun-sam (1939.5-1943.2), the 3 John Choe Jae-seon (1943.2-1945.5), the 4 Vianney Choe Yeong-ho (1970.8-1982.4), the 5 Cassiano Ham Jeong-tae (1982.4-1983.1), the 6 Polycarp Kim Jong-pil (1983.1-1984.2), the 7 John Ha Seong-ho (1984.2-1986.1), the 8 Lawrence Yeo Chang-hwan (1986.1-1988?), the 9 Peter Lee Gang-tae (1988?-1991.6), the 10 Anthony Lee Hyeong-mun (1991.6-1994.8), the 11 Peter Choe Jong-hyeon (1994.8-1996.2), the 12 Stephen Park Deok-su (1996.2-1998.8), the 13 John the Baptist Kim Du-chan (1998.8-2001.8), interim Yeo Chang-hwan (2000.6-8), and the 14 Gregory Kim Myeong-seop (2001.8-at the time of the Encyclopedia’s compilation).

Architecture and Space

According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the Majam mission-chapel facilities built on the site donated in 1913 were a church of 43.3 pyeong, a rectory of 5 pyeong, and a hall and residence of 35.5 pyeong. The new church building, for which Fr. Yeo Chang-hwan demolished the wooden building on April 1987 and which was completed and dedicated on May 1, 1988, has a total floor area of 254 pyeong with 1 basement floor and 2 above-ground floors, housing a hall and meeting rooms in the basement, the church and the rectory on the 1 floor, and the choir and others on the 2 floor.

Related Places and People

• Majam mission chapel: the predecessor mission chapel of Jijwa Parish, established in 1913, known as the birthplace of the Church in the Gimcheon area (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Gimcheon Hwanggeum-dong Parish: established in 1901, it had jurisdiction over the Majam area, and in 1935 Jijwa Parish was separated from it (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Seo Sang-don (Augustinus): the Gospel began to spread when his father’s family came as refugees to Majam (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Muhak-dong, Gwangam-dong, Seonmugi (Seonmuteo), Meokbangi and Neukbawi mission chapels: mission chapels belonging to Jijwa Parish that suffered severe damage in the flood of 1936 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Pyeonghwa-dong, Jirye and Hwanggeum-dong parishes: parishes in the Gimcheon area whose pastoral jurisdiction passed together with Jijwa Parish from the Waegwan Vicariate to the Archdiocese of Daegu in 1984 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Research Institute for Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Jijwa-dong Parish” (Vol. 10). Coming of the faith to the Majam area, the Majam mission chapel in 1913, erection as a parish in 1935, re-elevation in 1970, dedication of the church building in 1988, statistics, jurisdiction, successive priests.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/5826
2. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Korean Catholic Directory “Jijwa” (Archdiocese of Daegu). Foundation date 1935.06.16, patron the Ascension of Jesus, number of believers, number of mission chapels, religious congregation, jurisdiction.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/Catholic/DetailInfo.aspx?cgubn=c&gubn=4&gyogu=201000021&code=201000895&gubn2=all&char=all
3. Archdiocese of Daegu, Parish Information “Jijwa”. Date of establishment June 16, 1935.
   https://www.daegu-archdiocese.or.kr/page/area.html?menu=c4&number=111&premenu&srl=church_search