Yugu Catholic Church

Overview

Yugu Church is a church in Seongnam-ri, Yugu-eup, Gongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do, belonging to the Diocese of Daejeon. On December 28, 1968, it was elevated from a Catholic mission chapel under the jurisdiction of the Gongju (now Jungdong) Parish to a parish, and its patron is Saint Joseph the Worker. Its jurisdiction covers Yugu-eup, Sinpung-myeon and Sagok-myeon.

History

[Catholic villages and mission chapels] According to the Digital Gongju Culture Encyclopedia, during the persecution period Catholic villages had formed in the area under Yugu Church’s jurisdiction at Dumbeongi (now Jopyeong-ri, Sinpung-myeon), Jinbat (now Sinyeong-ri, Sagok-myeon), Meokbangi (now Ssangdae-ri, Sinpung-myeon), Gwanbul (now Nokcheon-ri, Yugu-eup), Mannyeon-dong (now Mancheon-ri, Yugu-eup) and Yongsu-gol (now Yuryong-ri, Sagok-myeon). They were all destroyed by the Byeongin Persecution of 1866, and after the Byeongin Persecution new Catholic villages of Yogol, Seojae and Sagijeomgol were newly formed in the Myeonggok-ri area of Yugu-eup. These Catholic villages, the direct origin of Yugu Church, were all established as mission chapels after 1883, and on May 8, 1897, with the establishment of Gongju Church, they came under its jurisdiction. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Gospel had been preached in the present parish area since the early 1800s, with mission chapels established at Surichigol, Dumbeomi, Saranggol, Sagijeomgol, Yogol and others, and in spring 1958 the Yugu mission chapel was established at the present parish site.

[Elevation to parish] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, in 1954 Father A. Pailler, the 8th pastor of Gongju Parish, purchased the present parish site of 1,618 pyeong in preparation for establishing a parish as the number of faithful grew. In 1962, Father J.M. Cuny, the 9th pastor of Gongju Parish, tried to elevate the Yugu mission chapel with 122 faithful to a parish but did not succeed. After the Korean War, as weaving factories were built and regional development accelerated, the need to establish a parish grew again, and the faithful of the mission chapel, with support from the diocese and the Holy See, began construction on the land prepared by Father Pailler and completed the church and rectory on December 20, 1968. The mission chapel was elevated to Yugu Parish on December 28 of that year, Father J. Crinquand was appointed as the first pastor, and Yugu Parish took over the Yugu-myeon, Sinpung-myeon and Sagok-myeon areas from Gongju Parish, with mission chapels including Sagijeomgol, Yogol and Saranggol coming under the new parish’s jurisdiction. The Digital Gongju Culture Encyclopedia records the person who established the Yugu mission chapel at its present location as Father Pailler, the 8th priest of Gongju Church, the person who elevated the Yugu mission chapel to a parish on December 28, 1968 as Father Cuny, the 9th priest, and states that French missionary Crinquand took office as the first priest.

[Early development] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Father Crinquand widened farm roads and rearranged farmland together with village residents, and purchased 35,000 pyeong of forest land with an inheritance received from his parents and donated it to the parish. A church cemetery was created on this forest land, and additional land was later purchased to expand the cemetery, which continues to operate to this day. In August 1971 a dining hall was built, and in June of the following year an auditorium and warehouse were newly built. Father A. Plassier, the 2th pastor, newly built a convent and in January 1978 established a branch of the Society of the Holy Word, and in September 1979 newly built a meeting room of 10 pyeong.

[After the 1980s] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Father Baek Seong-su, the 3th pastor, worked for financial self-reliance, expanded the rectory in January 1983 and built a new convent of 30 pyeong in August 1985. As the Society of the Holy Word withdrew, a branch of the Mirinae Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary was established in March 1991. Father Choe Seok-yeong, the 5th pastor, expanded the catechetical room in April 1993, and Father Jeong Jun-seop, the 6th pastor, carried out parish landscaping and renovation work from October 1995 to April of the following year and in February 1997 conducted a basic catechism course for all parishioners over 6 months. Father Son Beom-gyu, who took office as the 8nd pastor in February 2001, set ‘Making a Young Parish’ as his pastoral goal and installed 3 container buildings for meeting rooms.

[Church statistics and jurisdiction] The church statistics recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are in 1968 633, in 1971 700, in 1977 732, in 1982 765, in 1988 748, in 1994 907, and in 2000 716. The Digital Gongju Culture Encyclopedia records the number of faithful as of 2016 as 576. The successive pastors are the first, John Crinquand (Kang Jin-su) (1968.12–1977.10), the 2nd, Augustino Plassier (Park Su-beom) (1977.10–1982.9), the 3th, Simon Baek Seong-su (1982.9–1986.8), the 4th, Joachim Lee Jong-rin (1986.8–1992.8), the 5st, Ignatius Choe Seok-yeong (1992.8–1994.2), the 6th, Joseph Jeong Jun-seop (1994.2–1999.1), the 7th, Gilberto G. Poncet (1999.1–2001.2), and the 8th, Emmanuel Son Beom-gyu (2001.2–) (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

Related Places and People

• Yogol mission chapel: It is a Catholic mission chapel in Myeonggok-ri belonging to Yugu Church. According to the Digital Gongju Culture Encyclopedia, it originates from a Catholic village cultivated by the faithful after the Byeongin Persecution of 1866, it is one of the first mission chapels established by French missionary Doucet in 1883, and Lee Hwa-jin took office as the first mission chapel president in 1884. In 1897 Guinnand, the first priest of Gongju Parish, made this place his temporary residence, and in 1938, under the 5th president Gu Pyeong-seo, land at Myeonggok-ri lot 195 was donated by Jeong Gi-hyeon and a mission chapel building was erected. It produced 9 priests, including Father Gu Jeon-hoe (ordained on October 28, 1947), and 10 or more religious.
• Gongju Jungdong Church: It is the mother parish to which the Yugu mission chapel belonged before it was elevated to a parish. The Digital Gongju Culture Encyclopedia states that on May 8, 1897, with the establishment of Gongju Church, the mission chapels in the Yugu area came under its jurisdiction.

References and Sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Yugu Parish” (9 volume). Elevation to parish on December 28, 1968, patron, jurisdiction, timing of mission chapels and parish establishment process, development and changes, church statistics, successive priests.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/4857
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Gongju Culture Encyclopedia “Yugu Church”. Catholic villages and mission chapels in the Yugu area, jurisdiction of Gongju Church in 1897, establishment of Yugu mission chapel in 1958, elevation to parish in 1968, number of faithful in 2016.
   https://www.grandculture.net/gongju/toc/GC01701685
3. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Gongju Culture Encyclopedia “Yogol Mission Chapel”. Origin of Yogol mission chapel, establishment as mission chapel in 1883, construction of mission chapel building in 1938, production of priests and religious.
   https://www.grandculture.net/gongju/toc/GC01701690