Jochiwon Church

History & origins

Preparations for the establishment of Jochiwon Parish intensified at the end of 1954. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Fr. Oh Ki-seon purchased a wooden building from the Japanese colonial period in Jeong-dong, Jochiwon, and after the parish was founded early the following year, its first pastor, Fr. Gu Jeon-hoe, converted the building into a church. The official directory records February 5, 1955, as the date of establishment, while the encyclopedia describes the parish as founded in January 1955; this account therefore uses the broader wording “early 1955.” The converted church was dedicated in November of that year.

As the community grew, the original property became increasingly inadequate. In 1967 the old church site was sold and the parish moved to the area where it is now based, and in 1970 a new church and rectory were completed. A community of the Inbo Eucharistic Sisters was established in 1973 to assist parish ministry, while spaces for education and lay activities were gradually expanded.

Along with its own growth, Jochiwon Parish experienced the development of neighboring communities into separate parishes. The Jeonui mission station had long remained under Jochiwon Parish before being elevated to an independent parish in 1980. This illustrates how Jochiwon's pastoral territory, once spread across a broad area, was reorganized into smaller parish units as local Catholic communities matured.

Through these changes, Jochiwon Catholic Church grew from a provisional wooden building into a parish with a new site and church, assisted by a religious community and educational facilities. Its history also reflects the wider process by which Catholic life became rooted in northern Sejong and subsequently developed into several local communities.