Wolbae Catholic Church

Overview

Wolbae Church is a church in Jincheon-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu Metropolitan City, belonging to the Archdiocese of Daegu. It began in 1949 as the Wolbae Catholic mission chapel under Hwawon Parish and was elevated to a parish in 1957; its patron saint is St. Joseph and its first pastor was Fr. Park Jae-su (John).

History

[Establishment of the Wolbae mission chapel] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that Wolbae-area faithful attending Hwawon Parish, 59 people (20 men and 39 women), felt great inconvenience because the parish was too far away, so Fr. Seo Jeong-do (Bernardo) of Hwawon Parish at the time established this area as a mission chapel in 1949 at the house of Park In-ho (James) at lot 355 in Wolseong-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu City today.

[Elevation to a parish and construction of the church] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, as the number of mission-chapel faithful grew, Fr. Park Jae-su of Hwawon Parish at the time planned a new church building from 1955, and in September 1957 he spent his own funds to purchase 2,570 pyeong of land for the church. On October 1 of the same year, with the groundbreaking for the church (124 pyeong) and the rectory (18 pyeong), it was elevated to a parish and Fr. Park Jae-su took office as the first pastor (the same entry also notes October 5, 1958 as the foundation date from the directory, while the Daegu Archdiocese parish information gives the foundation date as October 5, 1957). Fr. Park Jae-su concurrently served as pastor of Hwawon Parish, and from March 1960 he served only Wolbae Parish. At the time of the parish establishment, its jurisdiction was Jincheon-dong, Sangin-dong, Yucheon-dong, Songhyeon-dong, Wolseong-dong, Dowon-dong, Daegok-dong and Daecheon-dong, and in October, when the groundbreaking took place, Fr. Park Jae-su additionally purchased 928 pyeong of land to enlarge the church site. In February 1958, Joam-dong, Gamcheon-dong and Daecheon-dong were incorporated into the jurisdiction of Wolbae Parish. The jurisdiction of Hwawon Parish was integrated under Wolbae Parish in July 1960 because of a vacancy in its pastorate, and in January 1962 the jurisdictions of the two parishes were separated again.

[Blessing] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that construction of the new church and rectory was completed in July 1959 and that the blessing ceremony was held on May 13, 1962, officiated by Bishop Seo Jeong-gil (John). Afterwards, an auditorium (70 pyeong) and the building now used as the convent (20 pyeong) were also built and blessed.

[After the 1970s] The 6 pastor, Fr. Jeong Gwang-yeong, concurrently served as pastor of Hwawon Parish until October 1972, and in October 1976 he established a branch house of the Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Daegu to assist in pastoral work. As the number of faithful in the Songhyeon-dong area surged sharply from the 1980s, the 8 pastor, Fr. Kim Mu-han, separated Songhyeon-dong Parish in May 1982 and transferred the registers of Songhyeon-dong faithful. The 11 pastor, Fr. Kim Cheol-jae, separated Sangin-dong Parish in April 1991 and transferred the registers of the faithful of the entire Dowon-dong area and part of Sangin-dong (all of the above from the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

[Administration by the Order of Friars Minor Conventual] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, beginning with the appointment of Fr. Kim Im-gi of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual as the 14 pastor in January 1996, priests of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual have administered the parish. Immediately after taking office, Fr. Kim Im-gi separated Daegok Parish, and in April 1997 he built an education hall and repaired the church. Fr. Francesco (Ahn Hyeon-cheol) from Italy, who took office as the 15 pastor, set the parish pastoral direction for 2002 as “to find the path of true life in Christ” and strove to have all the faithful practice three things: reading and writing Scripture, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and counseling confession.

[Jurisdiction and statistics] The jurisdiction recorded by the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia is all of Daecheon-dong and Wolam-dong and parts of Jincheon-dong, Sangin-dong and Wolseong-dong. Membership was 350 in 1957, 765 in 1964, 206 in 1968, 200 in 1974, 910 in 1980, 1,055 in 1985, 3,231 in 1990, 2,591 in 1995, and 2,751 in 2000. Successive pastors are the first, Park Jae-su John (1957.10–1962.7), the 2, Kwon Yeong-jo Marco (1962.7–10), the 3, Kim Uk-tae Leo (1962.7–1963.9), the 4, Kim Dong-eon Peter (1963.9–1971.11), the 5, Lee Sang-ho Peter (1971.11–1972.10), the 6, Jeong Gwang-yeong Antonio (1972.10–1977.7), the 7, Lee Chang-ho Andrea (1977.7–1981.4), the 8, Kim Mu-han Francisco (1981.4–1984.7), the 9, Park Chun-taek Peter (1984.7–1989.6), the 10, Jeong Hong-gyu Augustino (1989.6–1991.3), the 11, Kim Cheol-jae Paul (1991.3–6), the 12, Jang Byeong-bae Peter (1991.6–1993.9), the 13, Kim Won-jo Laurentius (1993.9–1996.1), the 14, Kim Im-gi Antonio (1996.1–2000.11), and the 15, Francesco (Ahn Hyeon-cheol) Antonio (2000.11–).

Related places and people

• Hwawon Parish: the mother parish that administered the Wolbae mission chapel and then elevated it to Wolbae Parish in 1957. Fr. Seo Jeong-do of this parish established the Wolbae mission chapel in 1949 and Fr. Park Jae-su planned the new church building, and from July 1960 to January 1962 the jurisdiction of Hwawon Parish was integrated into Wolbae Parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Songhyeon-dong, Sangin-dong and Daegok Parishes: parishes separated from Wolbae Parish in May 1982, in April 1991, and in January 1996 immediately after Fr. Kim Im-gi took office, respectively (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: in October 1976 a branch house of the Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Daegu was established to assist in pastoral work, and the Daegu Archdiocese parish information also lists the convent as the Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
• Order of Friars Minor Conventual: from January 1996, priests of this order have administered the parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and sources

1. Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, “Wolbae Parish” (vol. 9). Elevation from a mission chapel under Hwawon Parish to a parish in October 1957, establishment of the Wolbae mission chapel, church land and new construction, blessing in 1962, daughter parishes, jurisdiction, statistics, successive pastors.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/4825
2. Archdiocese of Daegu, parish information “Wolbae Church”. Foundation date October 5, 1957, patron saint St. Joseph, convent Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
   https://www.daegu-archdiocese.or.kr/page/area.html?menu=c4&number=71&premenu=c1&srl=church_search&y_id=71