Unsu Mission

History & origins

The Catholic community in Unsu began to take shape in the early 1960s when several local Catholics started attending the mission at Goryeong. According to an account in the archdiocesan magazine Bit, citing the 1999 history of Goryeong Parish, about two years later the first mission service was held in a brewery building in Bongpyeong-ri, Unsu-myeon. Bae Je-gwon Francis Xavier, who had been baptized at Seongju Church, was appointed the first mission president.

As the community developed, its place of worship changed. In 1967, mission services were held in the home of Kim Am-i James, and efforts continued to secure a dedicated building. In 1973, building materials were obtained through the assistance of Father Kim Yeong-ok John, then pastor of Goryeong, and members of the mission community contributed their own labor to complete the mission building. The record preserves the story of a small rural Catholic community creating its own place of faith.

As the building deteriorated over the years, the faithful began preparing once again for reconstruction. The archdiocesan account describes how they purchased adjacent land and an old house and raised building funds over a long period, even selling ginkgo nuts gathered from trees at the mission. These efforts show that the mission was more than a structure; it embodied the daily life and service of the local Catholic community.

On March 27, 2011, a blessing was held for the rebuilt Unsu Mission Station of Goryeong Parish. The sequence from temporary worship spaces in the 1960s, to the first mission building in 1973, and finally to a renewed facility created through the faithful's fundraising and labor is the central thread running through Unsu's history.