Onyang Sinjeong-dong Catholic Church

History & origins

The official history of Onyang Sinjeong-dong Parish traces the roots of Catholic faith in the area back to Catholic communities in Sinchang and Onyang in the late Joseon period. It states that more than thirty Catholics were martyred in Sinchang during the Byeongin Persecution of 1866 and that a Catholic community connected with Ganyanggol Parish was re-formed around 1890. Around 1930, Bangchuk-ri Mission Station in Onyang was established, and when Onyang Parish was separated from Gongseri in 1948, this area came under Onyang's jurisdiction.

The direct transition toward the present parish took place in 2004. The Korean Catholic directory records the foundation date as January 8, 2004, while the parish's own history says that it was separated from Onyang Yonghwa-dong Parish in February of the same year under the name “Onyang Bangchuk-dong Parish.” Although the exact dating differs, both sources agree that an independent parish community emerged in early 2004. Because it had no church of its own at first, the parish used rented floors in a building in Bangchuk-dong.

After purchasing the present site in April 2005, the parish formed a church-building committee in March 2006, held a groundbreaking in May, and completed and occupied the new church in November. In December of that year, the parish name was changed to “Onyang Sinjeong-dong.” A rectory and convent were built in June 2008, together with landscaping that further completed the parish facilities.

This history shows how a new parish took shape on top of a much older regional memory of faith, passing through mission-station life and the jurisdiction of several mother parishes before moving from rented worship space into a church of its own. The present name and church building are the result of the community's consolidation in the early 2000s, while the parish's emphasis on the memory of martyrdom connects it with a much longer local Catholic history.