Naju Catholic Church

History & origins

The organized Catholic community in Naju began to take shape in September 1933, when Naju Mission Station was opened in the residence of Matthew Im Tae-gil. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that the community grew from 17 Catholics at the beginning to about 100 within roughly two years. In 1935, the Missionary Society of St. Columban acquired land at the site of the present church and built a church, rectory, and school building, while Naju became an independent parish in May of that year.

As the number of Catholics increased, additional land was obtained and a concrete church was built in 1937. Hampyeong Mission Station was elevated and separated as a parish in 1938. After the Korean War armistice, a kindergarten was established in 1953, and Yeongsanpo became a separate parish in 1954. During the tenure of Fr. Kim Chang-hyeon, property and a mission building were acquired in Nampyeong and a catechist was assigned there; in 1956, a branch of the Caritas Sisters was also established.

The church was expanded in 1961, the Hyeonhae Library opened in 1970, and a parish hall and landscaping works followed in 1971. On December 5 of that year, Nampyeong Mission Station was elevated and separated as an independent parish, continuing the pattern in which communities that had grown around Naju developed into separate pastoral units. Later years also saw the construction of a new rectory and further interior work on the church.

This sequence shows how Naju Catholic Church developed from a small mission community in the 1930s into a parish that in turn supported the growth and separation of surrounding Catholic communities. In later years, efforts to preserve the memory of the Muhakdang martyrdom site also continued, linking the parish’s development with both the evangelization of the Naju area and the remembrance of local martyrs.