Dachon Mission Station

History & origins

To understand the history of Dachon Mission Station, it is useful first to consider how island pastoral care developed around its mother parish, Heuksan. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Catholicism began to spread more systematically on Heuksando in 1951. A catechist was sent in 1952 and a mission building was erected, followed by the establishment of mission communities on Jangdo, Simni, Sari, and other islands as the number of Catholics grew. In 1958 Heuksan Parish was separated from Sanjeong-dong Parish and formally established.

The current Archdiocese of Gwangju record gives October 1, 1963 as the establishment date of Dachon Mission Station and identifies Damuldo as its pastoral territory. The historical entry for Heuksan Parish also lists Dachon among its mission communities. Dachon can therefore be placed within the expansion of Heuksan Parish’s island pastoral network after the parish was established, serving Catholics living on Damuldo as a local faith community.

For Dachon itself, this review did not find sufficiently reliable official records for the date of church construction, relocations, or later major renovations. Rather than filling those gaps with conjecture, the history is limited to the verified 1963 establishment, its affiliation with Heuksan Parish, and the broader historical context in which a network of island mission communities developed around Heuksan. The limitation also reflects how much less detailed documentation survives publicly for small island missions than for parish churches.