Geumsan Church

Overview

Geumsan Church is a church belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Daejeon, located in Geumsan-eup, Geumsan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. Originating from the Gasaebeol mission chapel in Jibang-ri, Jinsan-myeon, it was elevated to a parish in 1929, and moved to Jungdo-ri, Geumsan-eup in 1935 to become a parish again. After passing through the Dioceses of Daegu, Jeonju, and Daejeon, it was transferred to the Diocese of Daejeon on August 29, 1980, and its patron is Maege.

History

[Martyrdom Tradition and Mission Chapel Era] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, present-day Geumsan-gun is an area formed by merging the former Chungcheong-do Geumsan-gun and part of Jeolla-do Jinsan-gun through an administrative district change in 1914. This is the place where Yun Jichung (Paul) and Gwon Sang-yeon (James), martyred in the Sinhae Persecution in 1791, accepted Catholicism and lived the faith, and where their bodies are presumed to have been buried after martyrdom (Makhyeon-ri, Buk-myeon, Jinsan-gun, present-day Makhyeon-ri, Jinsan-myeon, Geumsan-gun). It is where Yi Paul, martyred in Hongju in 1812, was arrested (Gaejuk-ri), where Kim Gong-u, a native of Byeongbang in Jinsan who was martyred in Gongju during the Byeongin Persecution in 1866, lived, and where the couple Han Gyeong-yeong (John) and Son Maria (Gaejuk-ri) and Song Nusia (Jinsan-gun) were martyred. In view of this martyrdom history, the encyclopedia notes that a mission chapel appears to have already been formed here by the first half of the 19 century at the latest.

The oldest mission chapel verifiable in documents is the Jinbatteul mission chapel mentioned in Father Choe Yang-eop's letter of 1856, apparently formed in the 1840. According to the map made by Father F.C. Ridel, Jinsan in Jeolla-do and Geumsan in Chungcheong-do were included among the 153 mission chapels nationwide in the 1860, and the church statistics tables for 1884–1885 list mission chapels in the Jinsan area such as Sorani (Sangga-ri, Geumseong-myeon) and Makgimi (Makhyeon-ri, Jinsan-myeon). Before this area passed under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate of Daegu when the Vicariate of Joseon was divided into the Vicariate of Seoul and the Vicariate of Daegu in April 1911, mission chapels such as Gasebal (Jibang-ri, Jinsan-myeon), Guman-ri (Jiryang-ri, Boksu-myeon), Jinsan-eup (Eupnae-ri, Jinsan-myeon), and Anjireongi (Geoncheon-ri, Nam-myeon) were repeatedly founded and suppressed. Among these, the Gasebal mission chapel, presumed to have been founded in the 1860, was never suppressed and had a far greater number of faithful. In 1910, the mission chapels in the Jinsan area were the 2 chapels of Gasebal and Anjireongi, and 170 of the 180 faithful belonged to the Gasebal mission chapel (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

[Gasaebeol Parish] The direct precursor of Geumsan Parish was the Gasebal mission chapel, which in the 1920 was under the jurisdiction of Doejae Parish in the Vicariate of Daegu. It built a mission chapel hall in 1926 and was elevated to a parish in 1929, after which the first pastor, Father Yi Seong-man (Ignatius), built a 10-kan rectory in 1930 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia states that the Gasaebeol mission chapel was born in 1922 under Doejae Parish in the Diocese of Daegu, that the faithful, centered on chairman Yi Ui-gyu (Mark), promoted the expansion of the mission chapel hall and a campaign for elevation to parish status and completed a new mission chapel building, and that Bishop Demange visited on November 5, 1927 to bless the church. According to this source, the Gasaebeol mission chapel was elevated to Gasaebeol Parish on March 3, 1929, and Father Yi Seong-man Ignatius was appointed as the first pastor on April 17. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that it was established on June 1, 1929, separated from Doejae Parish in Jeolla-do.

[Move to Geumsan-eup] In 1931, when Jeollanam-do and Jeollabuk-do were separated from the Vicariate of Daegu to become the Prefecture Apostolic of Jeolla, this Jibang-ri parish was demoted to a mission chapel (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia states that on May 7, 1931, as the parish finances became difficult, Bishop Demange transferred Father Yi Seong-man to the mother parish of Doejae, so that Gasaebeol Parish reverted to a mission chapel of Doejae Parish, and that when the need to establish a parish in the Geumsan area was raised again, Geumsan town was chosen as the center. In 1935, it moved to its present location in Jungdo-ri, Geumsan-eup, purchasing 729 pyeong of church land and buildings, and was elevated to a parish again on July 10; this is the present Geumsan Parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia states that the faithful purchased land and buildings in Jungdo-ri in January 1935, and that Father Yi Seong-man took office as pastor of Geumsan Parish on June 16, 1935.

[Construction and Growth of the Church] In 1951, a building committee for the construction of the church was organized under the direction of the parish pastor, and in 1955 1,850 pyeong of land in Jungdo-ri was purchased as the new building site. In 1955 Baekhap Kindergarten was founded, and in December 1957 the church, rectory, and convent were newly built and completed (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia states that at this time ancillary buildings including the rectory, convent, and refectory were also built, and the completion and dedication ceremony was held, presided over by Bishop Kim Hyeon-bae (Bartholomew), Ordinary of the Diocese of Jeonju. Baekhap Kindergarten faced closure in August 1962 due to facility improvements required under the facility standards ordinance, but survived by converting to private consignment, and on February 12, 1968 it was converted to direct parish operation (Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia). According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, in 1963 the annex kindergarten and parish meeting room were newly built, in June 1964 a branch of the Sisters of Consolation of the Blessed Sacrament was opened, in 1972 a credit union was founded, and the following year 2,900 pyeong of forest land in Sinjeong-ri, Namil-myeon was donated by chairman Yi Geum-su (Thomas) as the church cemetery. In August 1977 a mission chapel building was newly built in Baegam-ri, Boksu-myeon. The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia states that on December 15, 1969 Father Kim Yeong-sin (Paul), a native of Sindae-ri, Geumsan-eup, was ordained to the priesthood, producing the first parish-native priest 40 years after the founding of the parish.

[Changes in Diocesan Affiliation] After Geumsan-gun was incorporated from Jeollabuk-do into Chungcheongnam-do through the administrative reorganization on January 1, 1963, the question of which diocese Geumsan Parish should belong to became a matter of interest, and the parish remained in the Diocese of Jeonju for another 17 before moving to the Diocese of Daejeon on August 29, 1980 (Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia). The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia likewise states that it was transferred from the Diocese of Jeonju to the Diocese of Daejeon on August 29, 1980.

[New Church Building] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that to demolish the old church building dating from 1964 and build a new church, a temporary church was prepared in the basement of the education hall completed in 1990, and that the rectory and convent are located in this education hall. According to the Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new church was held on March 6, 2000, 6 years after the dismantling of the old church, and on April 14, 2002 a new church with a total size of 615 pyeong, including a basement floor, 1 floors above ground, and a 2 floor, was completed and dedicated in a ceremony presided over by Diocesan Bishop Gyeong Gap-ryong. On December 9, 2008, by decision of the Diocese of Daejeon, the Jibang-ri mission chapel and Baegam-ri mission chapel belonging to Geumsan Parish were elevated to Jinsan Shrine Parish and separated.

[Activities and Present Status] The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia states that Geumsan Parish carries out mission and service activities including the rebuilding of Baekhap Kindergarten, the founding of the Bible Tasting University, the Finding Our Family campaign, the White Martyrdom movement, and the opening of a homepage, and that in October 2019 it published the Geumsan Parish 90th Anniversary Commemorative Volume. As of 2023, the parish community includes the pastoral council, the small-community council, and the Legion of Mary, with ten praesidia organized under the Queen of Apostles Curia.

[Church Statistics and Successive Pastors] The church statistics recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are 474 in 1952, 1,011 in 1962, 1,469 in 1979, 1,078 in 1980, 1,562 in 1989, and 2,118 in 1993. Its jurisdiction is recorded as part of Geumsan-eup, Geumseong-myeon, Jewon-myeon, Buri-myeon, Gunbuk-myeon, Namil-myeon, Nami-myeon, Jinsan-myeon, Boksu-myeon, and Chubu-myeon. The successive pastors are the first Yi Seong-man Ignatius (1929.5–1931.5), the 2 Yi Seong-man (1935.6–1939.4), the 3 Seo Byeong-ik (Paul) (1939.4–1941.3), the 4 Seo Jeong-su (Alix) (1941.3–1947.4), the 5 Jo Sang-ik (Peter) (1947.4–7), the 6 Yi Sang-ho (Augustine) (1948.8–1951.2), the 7 Kim Yeong-tae (Dominic) (1951.12–1955.10), the 8 Heo Il-rok (Thaddeus) (1955.10–1961.7), the 9 Yi Tae-gyu (Joseph) (1961.7–1963.6), the 10 Yi Gi-sun (Dominic) (1963.6–1967.12), the 11 Seo Yong-bok (Thomas) (1967.12–1969.12), the 12 Kim Jeong-won (Thomas) (1969.12–1971.1), acting Gwon Yeong-gyun (Anthony) (1971.1–4), the 13 Kim Hwan-cheol (Stephen) (1971.4–1974.6), the 14 An Bok-jin (Joseph) (1974.6–1976.12), the 15 Kim Byeong-hwan (John) (1976.12–1980.1), the 16 O Hyeon-taek (Casimir) (1980.1–8), the 17 Go Il-bong (Gabriel) (1980.9–1981.9), the 18 Sin Sang-uk (Thomas) (1981.9–1984.3), the 19 Kim Jin-hwa (Paul) (1984.3–1985.4), the 20 Yi Chang-deok (Mark) (1985.4–8), the 21 Kim Jeong-su (Barnabas) (1985.8–1988.8), the 22 Blanc (Jean Blanc, Baek) John the Apostle (1988.8–1993.8), and the 23 Yi Jae-yeong John the Apostle (1993.8–) (as of the time of writing of the encyclopedia).

Related Places and People

• Jinsan Shrine Parish: a parish elevated and separated from the Jibang-ri mission chapel and Baegam-ri mission chapel belonging to Geumsan Parish on December 9, 2008 (Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia).
• Gasaebeol (Gasebal) Mission Chapel and Parish: the precursor of Geumsan Parish in Jibang-ri, Jinsan-myeon, elevated to a parish in 1929 and then returned to a mission chapel of Doejae Parish in 1931 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia).
• Doejae Parish: the mother parish to which the Gasaebeol mission chapel belonged; in 1931 Gasaebeol Parish reverted to a mission chapel of this parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia).
• Yun Jichung (Paul) and Gwon Sang-yeon (James): figures martyred in the Sinhae Persecution in 1791; the Geumsan area is presumed to be where they lived the faith and were buried (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Father Yi Seong-man (Ignatius): the priest who served as pastor of Gasaebeol Parish and of Geumsan Parish in 1935 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Geumsan Parish”. Martyrdom tradition and mission chapels in the Geumsan area, Gasaebeol Parish and the move to Geumsan-eup in 1935, church construction in 1957, transfer to the Diocese of Daejeon in 1980, church statistics and successive pastors.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/790
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia “Geumsan Church”. Origins of the Gasaebeol mission chapel, elevation to parish status in 1929, appointment of Father Yi Seong-man in 1935, dedication in 1957, changes in diocesan affiliation, new church building in 2002, separation of Jinsan Shrine Parish in 2008.
   https://www.grandculture.net/geumsan/toc/GC09200925