Gwangyeong-dong Catholic Church

Overview

Gwangyeong-dong Church is a church in Gwangyang City, Jeollanam-do, belonging to the Archdiocese of Gwangju. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, as the number of faithful increased with the completion of the Gwangyang Steelworks, the Gwangyang Jecheol Catholic mission chapel, founded in 1983, was separated from Gwangyang Parish on February 7, 1990 and elevated to a parish, with St. Thomas the Apostle as its patron.

History

〔Gwangyang Jecheol Catholic mission chapel〕 According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, as the number of faithful grew with the completion of the Gwangyang Steelworks, on March 5, 1983 Fr. Maurilio Franco of Gwangyang Parish celebrated the founding Mass of the Gwangyang Jecheol Catholic mission chapel in Building 4, Unit 202, Dongbaek Apartments, attended by about 20 faithful.

〔Promotion of church building〕 The encyclopedia states that in 1986, following the expansion development of Gwangyeong-dong, the mission chapel site was sold to the Land Development Corporation, and the following year on January the ‘Jecheol Church Building Promotion Committee’ was organized, but at the end of May 1988 Fr. Choe Hyeong-nak of Gwangyang Parish, considering the accommodation and education of the faithful, launched the ‘Gwangyang Parish New Church Building Committee’ and merged the ‘Jecheol Church Building Promotion Committee’ into it. However, as differences of opinion between the faithful of the two areas and a shortage of building donations made it difficult to build both churches at the same time, the issue of relocating the new Gwangyeong-dong parish building was raised again, and as a result of the public hearing on new church construction on February 3, 1989, the two areas decided to form a church building promotion committee each. The church building promotion committee of the Donggwangyang area (the Jecheol area), which was elevated to a city on February 9, 1989, was launched and on February 13 purchased 1,833 pyeong at San 114-1, Jungma-dong, as a church site; as part of the purchased site was included in the city plan, on October 24, 1989 it purchased a 726-pyeong site at San 70-13, Gwangyeong-dong.

〔Elevation to parish and blessing〕 According to the encyclopedia, the Gwangyang Jecheol Catholic mission chapel was elevated to Gwangyeong-dong Parish on February 7, 1990, with Fr. Choe Hyeong-nak of Gwangyang Parish serving concurrently as parish priest. On April 29 the groundbreaking Mass for the church building was celebrated, and on July 9 the blessing ceremony of the church, combined with a celebration of Fr. Choe Hyeong-nak’s publication, was held, and on July 8, the day before the blessing ceremony, the parish bulletin was first published. As Fr. Choe Hyeong-nak, who had served as pastor of both parishes, devoted himself solely to the pastoral care of Gwangyeong-dong Parish from February 1991, the number of faithful grew.

〔Later land purchases and activities〕 The encyclopedia states that on July 26, 1991 about 326 pyeong at San 70-5, Jungma-dong, was purchased as the site for an education center, and the following year on June 30 about 398 pyeong at San 70-8 was purchased as a church site, and on August 17 the 2 ‘Church Building Promotion Committee’ was launched. To foster fellowship among the faithful, the 《Parishioners’ Address Book》 was published, and on February 18, 1993 a branch of the Sisters of Charity of Seton was opened.

〔Jurisdiction and successive pastors〕 The jurisdiction recorded in the encyclopedia is the entire Donggwangyang City, and the statistics are in 1991 1,638 persons, in 1993 2,314 persons, and in 1994 2,453 persons. The successive pastors are the first, Paul Choe Hyeong-nak (1990.2–1992.2), and the 2, Luke Kim Jong-ju (from 1992.2 to the time of writing). The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea directory lists the parish as belonging to the Suncheon District, with the date of establishment as February 7, 1990 and the patron as St. Thomas the Apostle.

Related Places and People

• Gwangyang Parish: the parish of Fr. Maurilio Franco, who celebrated the founding Mass of the Gwangyang Jecheol Catholic mission chapel in 1983, and of Fr. Choe Hyeong-nak, who became concurrent pastor in 1990; Gwangyeong-dong Parish was separated from this parish on February 7, 1990 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Gwangyeong-dong Parish” (Archdiocese of Gwangju, Vol. 1). Founding of the Gwangyang Jecheol Catholic mission chapel in 1983, progress of church building, elevation to parish and blessing ceremony in 1990, land purchases, statistics, successive pastors.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/459
2. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Catholic Directory of Korea “Gwangyeong-dong” (Archdiocese of Gwangju). Date of establishment 1990.02.07, patron St. Thomas the Apostle, Suncheon District.
   http://directory.cbck.or.kr/m/catholicInfo.asp?code=201001118&gubun=4