Mansu 6-dong Catholic Church

History & origins

Mansu 6-dong Parish was established on February 14, 2000, after being separated from Mansu 1-dong Parish. From its earliest period, the new community worked not only to establish the practical foundations of an independent parish but also to develop a missionary approach centered on small Christian communities. Beginning in the latter half of 2000, it promoted a ‘small-community love-room mission movement’ that combined Bible study and fellowship, inviting active Catholics, inactive Catholics, and newcomers into the community in stages. By 2001, hundreds of catechumens were participating in the parish's initiation events, making this movement a major feature of its early pastoral life.

For ten years after its establishment, the parish continued prayer, fundraising, sales, and volunteer activities to secure a permanent church. This effort culminated in October 2010, when Bishop Boniface Choi Ki-san presided at the dedication of the new church. The church was built on a 2,491.7-square-meter site, with a total floor area of 4,136.4 square meters, one basement level, and three floors above ground. It included a Eucharistic adoration chapel, catechetical rooms, and dedicated spaces for young people and older parishioners, allowing liturgy, formation, and age-group community activities to take place together. Around the time of the dedication, the parish register counted 1,825 households and 4,577 Catholics, showing how substantially the new parish community had grown over its first decade.

The early small-community mission movement and the decade-long effort to build the church reveal the direction of Mansu 6-dong Parish's growth. The community first strengthened relationships and participation as the basis of parish life, and then established a permanent sacred space to support them. Together, these developments show how a newly created urban parish pursued evangelization, community formation, and the building of a stable parish home at the same time.