복수동 성당

History & origins

Boksu-dong Parish was established in January 2010 after being separated from Jeongnim-dong and Sanseong-dong parishes. At first, the community used about 215 square meters of basement space in a commercial building as its church, and Catholics arriving from two different mother parishes had to begin by building a common identity.

Despite difficult conditions, the parish emphasized participation through small Christian communities. It launched the parish newsletter Malssumtteurak in 2010 and was selected as a diocesan model parish for small-community life in 2012. A church construction committee was organized in 2013, after which parishioners raised funds through prayer, walking pilgrimages to diocesan shrines, offerings linked to walking distance, and even the sale of homemade strawberry jam.

Ground was broken for the new church in March 2015, and the first Mass in the new building was celebrated that December. The community then prepared for dedication through Bible copying and prayer centered on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, its patronal devotion. On November 18, 2017, the church was formally dedicated in a Mass presided over by Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik.

The history of Boksu-dong Catholic Church is therefore the story of a newly established parish that began in a temporary basement chapel and, through the voluntary prayer, labor, and fundraising of its members, built a permanent church and a shared parish identity.