Geumsa-ri Catholic Church

Overview

Geumsari Church is a church in Geumsa-ri, Guryong-myeon, Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Daejeon. It was established on April 27, 1901, separated from Gongju Parish, and its first parish priest was Father Julien Gombert. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, its patron is Saint Francis Xavier. The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia describes it as the base for Catholic missionary activity in the 'Lower Naepo' area of southwestern Chungcheongnam-do and the mother parish of all churches in that area today, and notes that the old church is designated as a Chungcheongnam-do Monument.

History

[Catholic Mission Chapel Era] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia notes that, although records show Catholics already lived in the Buyeo area around the Shinyu Persecution of 1801, the area suffered no major persecution until a few martyrs emerged in the Byeongin Persecution of 1866, as it had fewer believers than neighboring Gongju, Cheongyang, Nonsan, Seocheon, and other areas. After the persecution ended, believers from surrounding areas migrated in and a Catholic community began to form, settling first in Eunsan-myeon, Oesan-myeon, and Naesan-myeon in Buyeo-gun, near the mountainous area of Cheongyang. Father Doucet (Doucet), who first visited the area after the persecution, and Father Kwirillie of Yangchon Parish, the predecessor of the present Guhapdeok Parish, established the Namari Catholic mission chapel in Eunsan-myeon, the Doanggol Catholic mission chapel in Naesan-myeon, the Yeonaegol Catholic mission chapel in Oesan-myeon, and others. The first mission chapel established in Guryong-myeon was the Godang Catholic mission chapel in Yongdang-ri, Guryong-myeon, in 1891.

In June 1897, these mission chapels were transferred from Yangchon Parish to the newly established Gongju Parish and received visits from Father Guinand (Guinand). However, as Gongju was far away and the number of mission chapels and believers was growing, Father Guinand asked Bishop Mutel, the head of the diocese, to establish a new parish here, and Father Pasquier (Pasquier), who then took charge of Gongju Parish, made the same request. Son U-gi, Yun Yeong-sik, and others from Soyang-ri, Geumsari, traveled to Seoul in 1900 to propose the establishment of a parish to Bishop Mutel, and Father Pasquier repeated the request early the following year. In the meantime, the Sonsa, Galdeok-ri, Sangteo, Beolmal, and Gimangnae mission chapels and the Soyang-ri Catholic mission chapel, the predecessor of Geumsari Parish, were newly established in the Buyeo area, according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia. The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that at the time the area was mountainous and as many as 26 mission chapels were widely scattered, making it difficult to receive pastoral care from a priest.

[Parish Establishment] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Bishop Mutel accepted the believers' proposal in 1900 and decided to establish a new parish in the Buyeo area, and in the following year, as soon as the annual retreat ended on April 27, 1901, he dispatched Father Julien Gombert, who had entered Korea on October 9, 1900, and was learning Korean, to the Buyeo area. Father Gombert traveled with Father Pasquier via Gunsan and stayed at the Yongasil Catholic mission chapel in Seocheon and the Galdeok-ri Catholic mission chapel in Buyeo while looking for a center for the parish. Although Father Gombert first tried to settle in Galdeok-ri or Gyuam, a suitable site appeared in Soyang-ri, which became the parish center, so the parish was first called Hongsan Parish or Soyang-ri Parish after the administrative district name of the time. What Father Gombert purchased included 3 houses regarded as ill-omened, land, rice paddies, mountains, and other property. The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that this parish was the fourth parish established in Chungcheong-do after the Hapdeok, Gongseri, and Gongju parishes, and that it is also called Soyangi Parish, Geumsari Parish, and Saint Francis Xavier Church.

At the time of its establishment, the parish jurisdiction covered southwestern Chungnam, including Buyeo-gun, Nonsan-gun, Cheongyang-gun, part of Yesan-gun, Hongseong-gun, Anmyeon Island in Seosan-gun, Boryeong-gun, and Seocheon-gun. In 1908, when Sugok Parish, the predecessor of Seosan Parish, was separated from Guhapdeok Parish, the Seosan-gun area was transferred to the new parish. Father Gombert served the parish for 23 years, equipping church facilities and devoting himself to evangelization. As a result, the parish, which in 1902 had 17 mission chapels with 882 believers, had already grown to more than 1,000 believers the following year and recorded 26 mission chapels with 1,644 believers in 1923, according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia.

[Church Construction] The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that Father Gombert, who took up his post in Soyang-ri in April 1901, began church construction in May and completed the church in April 1906. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, believers, together with Chinese technicians hired by Father Gombert, began church construction and completed the church in 1906, completed the rectory and guest house, and held the dedication ceremony on September 2, 1913, officiated by Bishop Mutel.

[Division and Change] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the parish suffered difficulties as parish priests changed frequently and its jurisdiction shrank through parish divisions. The 3th parish priest, Father Leo Jeong Gyu-ryang, newly established the 2-year Gyemyeong Women's Academic Course with 2 classes in the church guest house in 1924 and contributed to local education, continuing until 1932. The 4th parish priest, Father Mathia Lee Yeo-gu, organized the youth association, improved the church roof, and separated Seocheon Parish in 1936. The 6th parish priest, Father Peter Kim Yeong-sik, built a wooden thatched-roof convent and organized the women's association. Seocheon Parish was demoted to a mission chapel 6 years later, in 1942, when Janghang Parish was established. The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that Seocheon and Janghang were separated as new parishes in 1936.

[6-25 War] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the 9th parish priest, Father Joseph Molinaro (J. Molinaro), stayed to guard the church to the end even as the church and annex buildings were confiscated, was arrested in August 1950 and taken to Daejeon, and after severe torture was shot in the basement of the Franciscan monastery in Daejeon on September 26. Father Peter Singer (P. Singer), who was then at Nonsan Parish, concurrently served as the 10th parish priest and cared for the believers. The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that Father Mollimareu was kidnapped and killed during the 6-25 War in 1950, adding that the spelling of the priest's surname differs by source.

[1950s to 1960s] The 12th parish priest, Father Thaddeus Kim Yeong-hwan, installed electricity in the church, organized the St. Anne Association, newly established the Sapti, Yeongmal, and Nonti mission chapels, and prepared bronze statues of Mary and Saint Xavier and the 14 Stations of the Cross. Believers joined with believers of the Gyuam Catholic mission chapel to build a church, and Gyuam Parish was divided off in September 1955. The 13th parish priest, Father Robert Jézégou (R. Jézégou), newly established 8 mission chapels and built 8 halls with foreign aid funds, purchased a new site in Hongsan in 1955, and began new church construction in 1957. Upon completing it in May of the following year, he separated and newly established Hongsan Quasi-Parish and concurrently served as its first parish priest. Through his efforts, the number of parishioners reached 2,174 by the end of 1960, the highest since the establishment, but shrank again after the separation of Hongsan Parish. The 15th parish priest, Father Paul Kim Dong-eok, revived the youth association, erected a bronze statue of Mary, and completed a weir to secure agricultural water, all according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia. The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that Gyuam Parish and Hongsan Parish were separated in 1955 and 1960 respectively, and Daecheon Parish and Cheongyang Parish were separated in 1964.

[Present Church] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the 18th parish priest, Father Thomas Yun Ye-won, took up his post in 1967 and devoted himself to building a new church, completing the present church on September 12, 1968. The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that when the new church was built in 1968, there were 1,473 believers. Afterwards, priests did not change frequently and the parish regained stability, but from the 1970s the number of believers gradually declined.

[After the 1970s] The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that after the 1970s the number of believers declined as the local population moved to cities, and communities operating mission chapels also decreased sharply. Encouraged by the Catholic Church's promotion of the credit union movement from the 1960s, the parish actively supported the establishment of a credit union in 1979, and in the 1980s planted chestnut seedlings on about 6 ten-thousand square meters in the mountain lot 94 in Yuram-ri, Naesan-myeon, Buyeo-gun, operating a chestnut farm. In 2000, marking the 100th anniversary of the parish establishment, it compiled the 100-Year History of Geumsari Parish. It now governs Guryong-myeon, Naesan-myeon, and Oesan-myeon, has 1 priest and 2 affiliated mission chapels, and, as of 2020, has 493 believers.

[Parish Strength and Successive Parish Priests] Parish strength recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia is 882 people in 1902, 1,510 people in 1910, 1,388 people in 1924, 1,008 people in 1949, 2,174 people in 1960, 1,016 people in 1970, 1,104 people in 1979, 1,299 people in 1983, and 857 people in 1993. The jurisdiction recorded in the encyclopedia is Guryong-myeon, Naesan-myeon, and Oesan-myeon, and the affiliated mission chapels are 12 places including Mansu-ri, Yongdang, Hwaseong, and Dongbang. The successive priests are the first, Julien Gombert (J. Gombert) (1901.4-1923.5), the 2th, Mark Park Dong-heon (1923.5-1924), the 3th, Leo Jeong Gyu-ryang (1924-1928), the 4th, Mathia Lee Yeo-gu (1928-1937), the 5th, Joseph Shin In-gyun (1937), the 6th, Peter Kim Yeong-sik (1937-1938), the 7th, Emile Fromentoux (E. Fromentoux) (1938-1939.5), the 8th, James Kim In-sang (1939.5-1948), the 9th, Joseph Molinaro (1948-1950), the 10th, Peter Singer (1950-1953), the 11th, Joseph Shin Jong-ho (1953.10-12), the 12th, Thaddeus Kim Yeong-hwan (1953.12-1955), the 13th, Robert Jezegou (1955-1961), the 14th, Thaddeus Kim Yeong-hwan (1961-1962), the 15th, Paul Kim Dong-eok (1962-1964), the 16th, Philip Kim Yeong-gon (1964-1966), the 17th, John Olivier (J. Olivier) (1966-1967), the 18th, Thomas Yun Ye-won (1967-1969), the 19th, John Tellier (J. O. Tellier) (1969-1972), the 20th, Mark Yeo Chung-gu (1972-1974.11), the 21th, John Song Gap-ui (1974-1977.2), the 22th, Andrew Park Jong-u (1977.2-1982.3), the 23th, John Bosco Park Yeon-ho (1982.3-1985.8), the 24th, Paul Kim Jin-hwa (1985.8-1986.4), the 25th, John Jeong Yong-taek (1986.4-1991.4), the 26th, Francis Yu In-seong (1991.4-8), the 27th, Michael Kang Seok-jun (1991.8-1992.3), and the 28th, James Seong Byeong-ryeol (1992.3-), as of the time the encyclopedia was written.

Architecture and Space

The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that the church completed in April 1906 was a modern church with a simple form in a classical style, built with bricks fired directly on site. Following the church, a rectory and guest house were built, and the dedication ceremony was held on September 2, 1913, officiated by Bishop Mutel.

The same source notes that this old church is designated as a Chungcheongnam-do Monument. It describes the designation history as designated as Chungcheongnam-do Monument No. 143 on November 30, 1996, and changed to a Chungcheongnam-do Monument with the designation number deleted pursuant to the public notice of the Enforcement Decree of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act on November 19, 2021, while its detailed information entry lists the designation date as July 25, 1998, so the designation dates differ within the document.

The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the present church was completed on September 12, 1968.

Related Places and People

• Gyuam, Hongsan, Daecheon, and Cheongyang Parishes: The Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia notes that Gyuam Parish in 1955, Hongsan Parish in 1960, and Daecheon Parish and Cheongyang Parish in 1964 were separated from Geumsari Parish.
• Seocheon Parish and Janghang Parish: Seocheon Parish was separated from Geumsari Parish in 1936 and Seocheon Parish was demoted to a mission chapel with the establishment of Janghang Parish in 1942, according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Gongju Parish and Yangchon Parish (Guhapdeok Parish): These are the parishes that governed the mission chapels in this area before the establishment of Geumsari Parish, according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Father Julien Gombert: The first parish priest dispatched to the Buyeo area in 1901, serving until 1923 for 23 years, according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia and the Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia.
• Father Joseph Molinaro (J. Molinaro): The 9th parish priest, shot in Daejeon on September 26, 1950, during the 6-25 War, according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia.

References and Sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia 'Geumsari Parish' (volume 2). Separation and establishment from Gongju Parish on April 27, 1901, mission-chapel era and parish establishment background, church completion in 1906 and dedication in 1913, division and 6-25 War, completion of the present church in 1968, parish strength, successive priests.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/789
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Buyeo Culture Encyclopedia 'Buyeo Geumsari Church'. Establishment background in 1901, church completion in 1906 and brick church style, daughter parishes, activities after 1979, current status in 2020, Chungcheongnam-do Monument designation history.
   https://www.grandculture.net/buyeo/toc/GC09001171