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About this place
Neunggyo Mission Station is a mission station of Chilbo Parish in the Diocese of Jeonju and an old Catholic community on the slopes of Hoemunsan in Sannae-myeon, Jeongeup. In Korean Catholic history it is also well known by the older name Neungdari. Its tradition comes from Catholic villages formed by believers who took refuge in the mountains during periods of persecution.
In the surrounding Hoemunsan area are the graves of Kim Nan-sik Francis, the younger brother of St. Andrew Kim Taegon, and Kim Hyeon-chae Thomas, another member of the family, while traces of old Catholic villages and mission stations remain in nearby mountain valleys. This setting makes Neunggyo more than a small rural chapel: it is a point of continuity between hidden mountain communities of the persecution era and the later rural mission-station network. Today it remains under the pastoral care of Chilbo Parish and continues the memory of that long local tradition of faith.
The coexistence of the present name Neunggyo and the older name Neungdari shows that this is more than a mission station named after an administrative locality; it carries a distinct memory in Catholic history. Although it is a small rural mission station today, the community once grew enough to become the center of a parish, so its historical importance cannot be judged by its present size alone. This makes Neunggyo especially notable among the mission stations of the Diocese of Jeonju.
History & origins
The roots of Neunggyo Mission Station reach back to Catholic villages formed by believers who hid in the deep valleys of Hoemunsan and the Noryeong mountain range after the Byeongin Persecution. Catholics who settled in mountain communities such as Meokguni gradually moved downhill in search of farmland and more sustainable livelihoods, and a community formed in the Neunggyo area. A Diocese of Jeonju account states that Neunggyo Mission Station was established in 1899 by Fr. Lacrout, then pastor of Suryu Parish.
The community grew rapidly. A record from 1905 states that Bishop Gustave Mutel visited the area and administered Confirmation to 337 people. In May 1929 the mission station was raised to the status of Neungdari Parish. The elevation of a mountain mission station to a full parish shows how important the Hoemunsan Catholic villages had become as a foundation for the local Church.
The parish center later moved in response to changing settlement patterns on the plains. In 1935 the parish was transferred to Taein and became Taein Parish; in the 1950s it moved again to the Shintaein area, forming the historical line that leads to the present Shintaein Parish. Neunggyo returned to mission-station status and, after Chilbo missionary parish was established in 2008, came under its pastoral care. In November of that year a new mission-station chapel was built, allowing the faith of the old Catholic village to continue in a new setting.
A distinctive feature of Neunggyo’s history is that the same community changed status from mission station to parish and later back to mission station. This should not be understood simply as decline; it also reflects the movement of the pastoral center toward places with easier transportation and larger settled populations. Although the name and center of the parish moved elsewhere, the Catholic community and chapel that remained in Neunggyo continued the roots of the former parish and still preserve that historical lineage.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
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Jeonju Diocese (Diocese of Jeonju)
Official website: https://www.jcatholic.or.kr
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