기지시 성당

History & origins

Gijisi Parish was established on January 14, 2003, after being separated from Dangjin Parish in response to the growth of the Catholic population and pastoral needs in the Songak and Songsan area. Both the official Korean Catholic directory and the Digital Encyclopedia of Dangjin record this establishment, and the new parish began forming an independent Catholic community centered on Songak-eup and Songsan-myeon.

Soon after the parish was created, providing a church and supporting spaces for stable liturgical and pastoral life became an important task. Construction proceeded that year, providing a church, rectory, catechetical rooms, and a Eucharistic adoration chapel. These facilities gave the newly separated community a place not only for Mass but also for catechesis, prayer, and parish activities.

On November 1, 2003, the new church was dedicated in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Joseph Kyeong Kap-ryong, then Bishop of Daejeon. The sequence from parish establishment to church dedication within the same year marks the period in which the Catholic community of the Songak and Songsan area quickly acquired the basic structure of an independent parish.

Gijisi Parish has since continued its local pastoral mission on the foundation laid by that first community separated from Dangjin Parish. Its beginnings can be understood as part of the Diocese of Daejeon's pastoral response to regional growth, dividing parish territories so that Catholics could participate in community life closer to where they lived.