Dohwadam Mission Station

History & origins

The roots of Catholic life around Dohwadam are connected with the persecuted communities of the Lower Naepo region. According to material on the mission station reported by the Catholic Peace Press, around 1890, as religious freedom gradually became established, some Catholics living in places such as Ttianmal near Jageunjae moved toward the Dohwadam area and formed the basis of a community. As the number of local Catholics grew, a more stable mission-station organization became necessary.

Dohwadam Mission Station was formally established in 1920 under Geumsari Parish. Father Julien Gombert of Geumsari founded the mission station, and the community was recorded as having 49 Catholics at the time. A Church report from 1924 also refers to the faith life of Dohwadam, showing that soon after its establishment it had already become a local center for liturgy and religious formation.

As diocesan and parish structures changed, the mission station passed through several jurisdictions. It came under Seocheon Parish in 1936, Janghang Parish in 1941, Daecheon Parish in 1962, and Boryeong Dongdaedong Parish from 2002. These changes did not represent the disappearance of the community; rather, they show how it remained connected as new parishes were created and pastoral boundaries were reorganized.

In 2017, the former mission-station property was incorporated into a road project, making relocation necessary. The community established a new building on another site, and the new Dohwadam Mission Station was dedicated on October 26, 2019, in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik. The passage from a community organized in the early twentieth century to a newly provided space a century later reflects its effort to sustain Catholic life amid changes in rural population and environment.