Sangdong Mission

History & origins

Sangdong Mission Station was established in 1954. According to the diocesan feature, Catholics from Sangdong village had previously joined mission services at Hadong Mission Station in the village below. When the Catholic population of Sangdong grew to about fifty, a separate mission station became necessary. At this stage Sangdong was not an independent parish with a large church, but a local community that enabled Catholics in the mountain village to maintain their connection with the parish and continue their life of faith.

Construction of the present chapel began at the end of 1993. Kim Gil-seon Paul decided to build a mission chapel on his own land as an expression of gratitude for his faith and began work on December 9, 1993. Skilled labor was hired for specialized tasks, while mission-station Catholics helped with the remaining work. Construction sometimes stopped when funds ran short, but local Catholics took part in hauling timber, laying blocks and slate, and completing the ceiling and roof ridge. Records also note that Jangsu Parish donated a cross, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the fourteen Stations of the Cross, while Daeya Parish donated the altar.

The work was substantially completed around July 1994, when the first mission service was held, and the chapel was blessed and offered to God on November 20 of that year. The process shows that the building was not simply the gift of one individual but the result of cooperation among local Catholics and neighboring parish communities. Although rural depopulation and aging later reduced the size of the community, the mission station remains a concrete witness to the Catholic history of Sangdong village.