Onyang Catholic Church

History & origins

The roots of Onyang Parish lie in Bangchuk-ri Mission Station, which belonged to Gongseri Parish. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Catholicism, Bangchuk-ri Mission Station was established in March 1920, and Father Colin of Gongseri acquired land in preparation for a future parish in Onyang. After Korea's liberation, the mission station moved into a donated house and continued there until it was elevated to an independent parish in 1948, with Father Pierre Mélizan appointed as its first pastor. The sources differ on the timing: the Encyclopedia of Korean Catholicism gives July, while the current Korean Catholic directory records August 22.

When land reform reduced the parish property in 1950, Father Pierre Leleu purchased additional land, but he was killed by gunfire during the Korean War later that year. After the war-torn community began to recover, construction of a new church started in May 1956. The building was completed and dedicated in January 1957. When the Diocese of Daejeon was separated from the Archdiocese of Seoul in 1958, Onyang Parish became part of the new diocese.

As Catholic communities in the Asan area grew, Onyang Parish later gave rise to several new parishes. Dogo became independent in 1974, and Mosan and Yonghwa were separated in 1985. Around that time the parish name was changed to Oncheon, before the name Onyang was restored in February 2000.

These changes trace the development of a community that began as a small mission station in Bangchuk-ri, endured war and reconstruction, entered a newly established diocese, and then helped extend the Catholic presence through several new parishes in the Asan area. The present name Onyang thus carries both the memory of its mission-station beginnings and the history of a growing community that repeatedly shared its foundations with new parishes.