St. Justin Seminary

History & origins

Bishop Florian Demange, the first bishop of Daegu, regarded the formation of priests as the highest priority for the long-term growth of the new diocese. The cost of founding a seminary was a serious obstacle, but a Catholic donor in Shanghai made a large contribution and requested that Saint Justin be chosen as patron. This support made possible the establishment of St. Justin Seminary in 1914.

The seminary grew into an important institution for forming clergy who would serve not only Daegu but the wider southern regions of Korea. As Japanese colonial repression intensified, however, the seminary was forced to close on March 19, 1945. By the time it closed, it had formed a total of sixty-seven priests. Even after the school disappeared, its tradition of priestly formation remained an important foundation in the history of the archdiocese.

Roughly forty years later, priestly education resumed in 1982 under the name Seonmok Theological College, carrying forward the spiritual lineage of St. Justin Seminary. The original seminary was a two-story red-brick building. According to the archdiocesan account, it was designed by Father Poisnel, who had also participated in the construction of Myeongdong Cathedral, and Chinese craftsmen took part in the work. The building was symmetrical around a central chapel and had a continuous Romanesque arcade along the front of the first floor.

Over time the projecting wings were removed, and the central section is what remains today. The preserved chapel and historical exhibition spaces on either side carry the seminary's memory into the present. The site brings together the history of Catholic education under Japanese rule, the interruption and renewal of priestly formation, and surviving modern architecture, bearing witness to the history of clergy formation in the Archdiocese of Daegu.