Haemi Catholic Church

Overview

Haemi Church is a church belonging to the Diocese of Daejeon in Eupnae-ri, Haemi-myeon, Seosan-si, Chungcheongnam-do. It was established in April 1985 when the Haemi Catholic mission chapel was elevated to a parish, and according to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, its patron is the Unknown Martyrs of Haemi. Although it had few parishioners, it was elevated to a parish because of the importance of the Haemi area as a place of martyrdom, and it was in charge of the project to sanctify the shrine grounds until the Haemi Martyrs’ Shrine was separated from the parish in January 2001.

History

〔History of martyrdom in Haemi〕 The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Haemi area is a place where the Gospel was spread from the early days of the Korean Catholic Church and is famous for the execution of many Catholics at the Haemi garrison after Park Chi-deuk (Laurence) was first martyred in 1799. During the Byeongin Persecution in 1866, many believers were sacrificed by various means including live burial, and among the executed believers were several who lived in Haemi, including Kim Seon-yang (Paul). The Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia describes Haemi as the most cruel execution site for believers during the persecution of Catholicism and the place with the most unknown martyrs, and notes that the work of sanctifying the grounds before the shrine was established was carried out through Haemi Church.

〔Faith community after the persecution〕 According to the encyclopedia, the faith community in Haemi was severely damaged by the Byeongin Persecution and reappears in the records only from the 1880s. The Masa Catholic mission chapel (present-day Majung-ri, Daehoji-myeon, Dangjin-gun) appears in the 1885 statistics table, and the Wonmaru Catholic mission chapel (present-day Supyeong-ri, Unsan-myeon, Seosan-si) appears in the 1887 record, while the existence of the faith communities of Haemi-myeon and Gobuk-myeon, the present parish jurisdiction, is confirmed from 1889. The statistics table written by Father C.-E. Doucet records 113 believers at Hwangso Pass (present-day Daegok-ri, Haemi-myeon) in 1889, 92 believers at Songtteum (present-day Daegok-ri) in 1901, and 49 believers at Illakgol (present-day Hwangnak-ri). Afterwards the Haemi area was under the jurisdiction of the Sugok parish after it was established in 1908, and then came under the jurisdiction of the Seosan parish after the Seosan (present-day Dongmun-dong, Seosan) parish was established in 1917.

〔Mission-chapel period〕 Until the early 1950s, believers in the Haemi area led their faith life at the Sinjeong-ri, Gobuk-myeon Catholic mission chapel belonging to the Seosan parish, but as the distance was great and inconvenient, in 1952 about 30 believers gathered at the house of a believer in Josan-ri and founded the Josan-ri Catholic mission chapel. In 1957 they purchased a house inside Haemi Eupseong Fortress and used it as a mission chapel, and in 1962 they purchased the martyrdom shrine beside the Hoya tree, the site of the old prison inside the fortress, and in 1966 they newly built a mission-chapel hall (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia states that the Haemi mission chapel built in 1966 beside the Hoya tree was prepared by the will of believers who wished to remember the martyrs. When the mission-chapel building inside the fortress was demolished as the government began the Haemi Eupseong restoration project in July 1981, they borrowed the fortress management office building and used it as a temporary meeting place, then in October 1983 they built a mission-chapel building at the present parish site and moved there.

〔Elevation to a parish〕 In 1985 the Haemi Catholic mission chapel was elevated to Haemi parish. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia gives the date of elevation as April 11, while the Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia gives April 10, differing by source. At the time of elevation the parishioners under its jurisdiction numbered 482 (common to both the encyclopedia and the Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia), but Bishop Gyeong Gap-ryong (Joseph), the diocesan bishop, decided on elevation to a parish in consideration of the importance of managing the shrine (encyclopedia). The first pastor is Father Yun Jong-gwan Gabriel.

〔Project to sanctify the shrine〕 Immediately after its establishment, in June 1985 Haemi parish organized the Council for the Exaltation of the Haemi Martyred Forefathers and prepared the sanctification of the shrine. First, as part of the Shrine Improvement Movement, it decided to purchase the Haemi martyrdom shrine and promoted through the parish bulletin and homilies to believers nationwide the opening of donation accounts for offering for the purchase of the martyrdom shrine, and by the end of 1998 it had secured about 7,000 pyeong of martyrdom shrine grounds around Haemi Eupseong (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia states that in 1998 it secured about 2 ten thousand 3000 square meters of land. From immediately after the parish establishment it honored the unknown martyrs as an act of devotion to the martyrs, holding Hansik memorial visits at the martyrs’ graves in Sanghong-ri from 1986 and offering a monthly Mass for the exaltation of the martyred forefathers on the first Sunday of every month from September of that year. In October 1986 it held the Daejeon Diocese faith rally commemorating the 120 anniversary of the Byeongin martyrdom at the martyrdom shrine inside Haemi Eupseong. These events continued until a church was built inside the Haemi shrine in 2001.

〔Profile of the parish〕 According to the encyclopedia, together with the parish establishment it founded the Curia of the Queen of Martyrs and the Marian Association, and in February 1987 it leased a row house in Eupnae-ri to establish the convent of the Sisters of Divine Providence. In October 1988 it broke ground for the House of One Heart with a rectory, convent and education hall next to the parish, held the blessing ceremony in June of the following year, and in April 1991 built a dining hall兼 garage of prefabricated panels. In 1992 it changed the pastoral council into the pastoral parish council and abolished the Council for the Exaltation of the Haemi Martyred Forefathers, whose projects were taken over by the pastoral parish council. In 1995 it founded the Mothers’ Association and the Seniors’ Association and in June built a catechesis room and office of prefabricated containers, and from 1998 it began to hold Ultreya.

〔Separation of the Haemi Martyrs’ Shrine〕 Father An Sang-gil, who took office in 1999, judged that pilgrims found it inconvenient to offer Mass and shrine management was difficult because Haemi parish was distant from the Haemi shrine, and decided to build a new church at the Haemi shrine. From May 1999 he began a campaign to secure 3,000 sponsors contributing 100 ten thousand won per 1 share, and in August 2000 held the groundbreaking ceremony for the church at the martyrdom shrine in front of the west gate of Haemi Eupseong. In January 2001 Father An took office as the priest in charge of the shrine and in June 2003 the church was completed, and the shrine development project and shrine management under Haemi parish were transferred to the Haemi Shrine parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia). The Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia states that on January 30, 2001 the Haemi Martyrs’ Shrine was separated from the church. Afterwards Haemi Church remained as a church for local believers, and the encyclopedia notes that in March 2005 it formed the Middle-Aged Group and set Family Evangelization as its pastoral guideline.

〔Present church〕 The Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia states that on November 19, 2008 the newly built church was completed. According to the same source, the present jurisdiction is Haemi-myeon and Gobuk-myeon of Seosan-si and part of Galsan-myeon, Hongseong-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, there is no mission chapel maintained, and the number of parishioners is 867.

〔Church statistics and successive pastors〕 The church statistics recorded by the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are 452 in 1985, 630 in 1990, 777 in 1995, 592 in 2000, and 650 in 2003. The jurisdiction recorded by the encyclopedia is the entire area of Haemi-myeon and Gobuk-myeon. The successive priests are the first Yun Jong-gwan Gabriel (1985.4-1990.11), the 2 U Hui-su Balthasar (1990.11-1994.8), the 3 Kim Jong-su Augustine (1994.8-1997.1), the 4 Gu Il-mo Peter (1997.1-1999.2), the 5 An Sang-gil John the Apostle (1999.2-2001.1), the 6 Choe Hyo-in Simon (2001.1-2005.1), and the 7 Gang Jeon-min Stephen (2005.1-) (as of the time of writing of the encyclopedia). The Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia records the present pastor as Father Kim Jong-min John the Apostle.

Related Places and People

• Haemi Martyrs’ Shrine: the martyrs’ shrine for whose sanctification project Haemi parish was responsible and which was separated from the parish in January 2001. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that in June 2003 a church was completed inside the shrine.
• Seosan (Dongmun-dong) parish and Sugok parish: after the Sugok parish was established in 1908 and the Seosan parish in 1917, they successively had jurisdiction over the Haemi area, and in 1985 Haemi parish was separated from Seosan Dongmun-dong Church and established (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia).
• Site of the old prison by the Hoya tree at Haemi Eupseong: the place where the martyrdom shrine was purchased in 1962, where the Haemi mission-chapel hall was built in 1966 but demolished in 1981 due to the fortress restoration project (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia).
• Park Chi-deuk (Laurence): the person recorded by the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia as first martyred in Haemi in 1799.
• Father Yun Jong-gwan Gabriel and Father An Sang-gil John the Apostle: respectively the first pastor and the 5 pastor, and Father An decided on the new construction of the shrine church and became the priest in charge of the shrine in 2001 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Korean Church History Research Institute, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Haemi Parish” (12 volume). Establishment of the parish on April 11, 1985, martyrdom history of Haemi and mission-chapel period, shrine sanctification project, transfer to the shrine parish, church statistics, successive priests.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/6843
2. The Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Seosan Culture Encyclopedia “Haemi Church”. Established on April 10, 1985 separated from Seosan Dongmun-dong Church, separation of the Haemi Martyrs’ Shrine on January 30, 2001, completion of the newly built church on November 19, 2008, present status.
   https://www.grandculture.net/seosan/toc/GC04101290