남동518기념성당

About this place

Namdong May 18 Memorial Catholic Church refers to the historical and commemorative identity attached to Namdong Catholic Church in Dong-gu, Gwangju, and is recognized by the Archdiocese of Gwangju as a historic site. The archdiocese explains that during the May 18 Democratic Uprising of 1980, Namdong Catholic Church became an important place where clergy and civic figures met to discuss responses to the crisis and where efforts were made to communicate what was happening in Gwangju to the outside world.

Fr. Kim Seong-yong, then pastor of Namdong Parish, worked to record and publicize the events, and in the years that followed the church continued to host memorial Masses, exhibitions, lectures, and gatherings. In recognition of this history, the site was designated by Gwangju City as a historic place of the May 18 Democratic Uprising in 2005, and the archdiocese proclaimed it a May 18 memorial church.

This target therefore does not refer to a separate newly built church, but to the May 18 historical identity of the existing Namdong parish church. Today it is both an active Catholic parish and a place for remembering the victims, the democratic struggle, and the social witness of the local Church during that period.

Official source