Seonsan Catholic Church

History & origins

Catholic faith in the Seonsan area is documented long before the parish itself was established. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records a substantial Catholic community at the Sagijeom mission station in Naksan-ri, Haepyeong-myeon, by 1883, and notes that the Gospel spread to Songnim-ri and Irye-ri after 1902. In Seonsan-eup itself, a community formed in the 1940s as a baptized Catholic shared the faith with family members and acquaintances.

The community developed as a mission station while passing through the jurisdiction of several parishes. After the Benedictines settled in Waegwan in 1952, the Seonsan Catholics became connected with Waegwan Parish, and a Seonsan mission station was subsequently organized. In 1956 it was transferred to Gumi Parish, and in 1957 a small thatched building in Seonsan was adapted as a mission chapel. As other mission stations appeared nearby, the faithful began asking that Seonsan be raised to parish status.

In 1959, with the assistance of the Benedictines, land at the present parish site was purchased and a church was built; it was dedicated on August 9 of that year. As the community grew, Seonsan mission station was finally elevated to a parish on April 5, 1962, with Father Ansgar Müller as the first pastor.

After parish establishment, a rectory was prepared and the church facilities were expanded. A new church was begun on April 12, 1964, and dedicated on November 22 of the same year. Jurisdiction over surrounding mission stations continued to change as local pastoral needs developed, and the current archdiocesan directory lists Okseong mission station under Seonsan Parish. The history of Seonsan shows the characteristic development of a rural Catholic community whose long mission-station tradition grew into an independent parish.