Gochang Catholic Church

History & origins

The history of Gochang Parish began in 1937 as Sinsudong Mission Station under Jeongeup Parish. During the Korean War, when Jeongeup Parish was temporarily closed, the mission station came under Sintaein Parish, and in 1954 it returned to the jurisdiction of Jeongeup. Conditions were not yet fully developed for an independent parish, but the diocese’s pastoral policy of establishing one parish in each county led to plans for a separate parish in Gochang.

Gochang Parish was formally established on March 19, 1960, with Father Augustine Kim Yeong-il as its first pastor. A small chapel was completed in August of the same year, and a rectory and auxiliary buildings followed in 1961. As the community grew, a larger church became necessary, and in 1968 a church of about one hundred pyeong, forming the basis of the present church building, was completed and blessed.

In 1970 the parish used the original small chapel to establish Saetbyeol Kindergarten, extending its apostolate into local education. The parish continued programs for adult faith formation, devotional life, and evangelization, while also giving increasing attention to honoring the martyr Matthias Choe Yeo-gyeom and the place of his martyrdom.

For the fiftieth anniversary of the parish in 2010, the community compiled its history and continued pilgrimages on foot to Gaegapjangteo and other activities honoring the martyr. The history of Gochang is thus both the story of a mission station that grew into an independent parish and the story of a community that made the local memory of martyrdom an important part of its pastoral identity.