Heaven's Gate Catholic Church

History & origins

The site of Haneul-ui Mun Catholic Church is connected with Baekseok Cemetery, which the Diocese of Incheon had operated as a diocesan cemetery since 1968. By the late 1990s, the cemetery had reached capacity, and the diocese began pursuing a columbarium in response to changing burial practices and the needs of its faithful. In 1998, however, the area was designated as a cemetery park, creating restrictions on construction and the use of diocesan property, and the project was delayed for many years.

The diocese continued to explain the realities of the existing cemetery and the need for a columbarium. In March 2020, the cemetery-park designation was lifted, creating the conditions for the project to move forward again. The Directory of the Catholic Church in Korea records the establishment of Haneul-ui Mun Catholic Church on January 16, 2023. A building permit was obtained in June of that year, and construction began in December, giving concrete form to the long-planned church-and-columbarium project.

Construction was completed in 2025, and on August 23 Bishop John Baptist Jung Shin-chul of Incheon presided at the blessing Mass marking the formal completion and opening of the church and columbarium. After administrative obstacles that had continued since the late 1990s, the diocese finally established a space it could operate directly for prayer and the interment of cremated remains. The history shows how the Diocese of Incheon sought to preserve the continuity of its cemetery ministry while responding pastorally to an era in which cremation and columbarium burial had become increasingly common, integrating these practices with Catholic liturgy and prayer for the dead.