Nokdong Church

History & origins

The Catholic community in Nokdong began as a mission community in the late 1950s, well before the parish itself was established. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Catholics in Nokdong, Pyeonghwa-dong, Bukchon, and nearby areas formed the early community, and in 1960 the pastor of Sorokdo Parish appointed Kim Jae-yeon, Lawrence, as catechist to lead evangelization in the area. Church land was purchased in Bongam-ri, Doyang-eup, in 1961, and a small chapel and priest’s residence were built in 1963, giving the mission a stable physical base.

When Goheung Mission Station was elevated to a parish in 1970, Nokdong came under the jurisdiction of Goheung Parish. Priests who lived at the mission continued local evangelization and charitable work for patients on Sorokdo, while new church land was acquired and women religious were invited to assist in pastoral ministry. A new priest’s residence was built in 1973 as the facilities of the growing community gradually expanded.

From 1978 the organization and pastoral life of the mission were further developed, and an enlargement of the church began in April 1980. On December 12 of that year the church was blessed and Nokdong Mission Station was separated from Goheung Parish and elevated as an independent parish. The priest who had already been serving the mission became its first pastor, providing continuity between the mission and parish periods.

The network of facilities and mission communities continued to develop after the parish was established. During the 1980s a community of women religious was opened and spaces for education, youth, and devotional activities were added; mission buildings at Geumsan and Geumdang were blessed in 1989 and 1991 respectively. The history of Nokdong thus traces the growth of a small coastal mission into a parish that later became a pastoral center for surrounding island and regional mission communities.