Changin-dong Catholic Church

History & origins

Changin-dong Parish was established on June 16, 1935, after being separated from Gunsan Parish, and it was initially called “Iri Parish.” The preceding year, a Catholic mission center known as the “Iri Catholic Propagation Station” had been opened in Juhyeon-dong, Iksan; its elevation to parish status in 1935 marked the beginning of a fully organized parish structure for the Iksan area. At first there was only a church building, so a priest’s residence and other facilities were added, and the first pastor, Father Ha Han-ju, took up residence in November 1935.

As the Catholic population grew, the parish sought a larger site. Land was purchased in Bukchang-dong in 1948 and construction was planned, but the Korean War delayed the project; a new church was finally completed there in December 1955 and the parish moved. Urban road development in the 1970s later required another relocation, and the parish moved to its present site in Changin-dong in 1977. The new church was dedicated on June 22, 1979, and the parish name was changed from Iri Parish to Changin-dong Parish.

Changin-dong became a mother parish for the expansion of Catholic life in Iksan. Over time, parishes including Samnye, Hwangdeung, Juhyeon-dong, Yeongdeung-dong, Songhak-dong, and Ma-dong were separated from it, widening the pastoral network across the region. When the Diocese of Jeonju marked the parish’s 80th anniversary in 2015, it described Changin-dong as the first Catholic parish church in the Iksan area, underscoring this historical position.

Thus the history of Changin-dong runs from a propagation station to parish status, through major relocations caused by war and urban development, to the dedication of a new church and the later creation of numerous daughter parishes. The present church, on the site dedicated in 1979, continues this long trajectory and remains a key place for understanding the growth of the Catholic community in Iksan.