Odu-ri Mission Station

History & origins

The documented history of the Oduri community reaches back to 1961. According to a history of the mission station, the faithful secured land in Oduri, Bureun-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, and on June 6, 1961—the day the Diocese of Incheon was established—built a structure of about 40 square meters and held the first mission-station service. Though small, the building became the center where village Catholics gathered and sustained their faith.

As the years passed, the need for a new space grew. In 1993, Father Pellini, then serving in Ganghwa, approved construction of a new mission station. The present building, approximately 165 square meters in size, was completed, and Bishop William McNaughton (Na Gil-mo) presided at its blessing on June 16 of that year. This process marked the community's development from a modest gathering place into a lasting liturgical space.

Oduri subsequently continued as a mission station under Onsu Parish, providing a home for Mass and community life for local Catholics. The first building erected by the faithful in 1961 and the rebuilding and blessing in 1993 are the key milestones in a history of a small local community creating and passing on its own place of faith.