성남동 성당

History & origins

Seongnam-dong Parish was established in March 1966 by separation from Daeheung-dong Parish, with Fr. Francisco Ha Ye-rye serving as its first pastor. The community held the groundbreaking for a new church in May of the following year, and in May 1968 the main church was consecrated in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Peter Hwang Min-sung, the second bishop of Daejeon. Thus, within a relatively short time after its establishment, the parish had secured an independent church and pastoral base.

As the Catholic population of the area grew, the territory of Seongnam-dong Parish was reorganized several times. Yongjeon-dong Parish was separated from it in March 1984, followed by Gayang-dong Parish in August 1989. This development reflects the wider pattern in eastern Daejeon in which urban growth and expanding Catholic communities led to the creation of new parishes from older ones. In 1987, Seongmo Kindergarten received official authorization, extending the parish’s activity beyond liturgy and sacramental life into the education of local children.

In preparation for the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation in 2016, the community renovated the aging church and installed an elevator to improve access to a sanctuary that had previously been difficult for elderly people to reach because of its high stairs. Alongside these physical improvements, parishioners offered the Rosary and copied the Old and New Testaments by hand, then looked back on half a century of faith at the anniversary Mass. These developments show how Seongnam-dong Parish has carried its tradition forward through territorial divisions and changes to its facilities.