Bugok Mission Station

History & origins

The exact date when Bugok Mission Station was first established, and the origins of its earliest Catholic community, cannot be determined from the public sources examined. By the 2000s, however, Bugok was being served together with the Namji and Yeongsan communities within the Diocese of Masan’s “Namji Mission Parish” system. Through this experiment, several mission communities were grouped under one pastoral structure so that Catholics in the mission stations could receive Mass and pastoral care more regularly.

Within that system, the Bugok community substantially improved its worship facilities. On April 23, 2009, Bishop Ahn Myeong-ok presided at the dedication of a new church complex consisting of a church, convent, and education center. The record that the education center included accommodations for Catholic families visiting the hot-spring area shows that Bugok functioned not only for local Catholics but also with the spiritual needs of visitors in mind.

The pastoral structure was later reorganized, and the current Catholic directory classifies Bugok as a mission station under Namji Parish. The verifiable recent history of Bugok can therefore be described as the strengthening of a mission community within the mission-parish system, the dedication of a more stable church complex, and its subsequent place again under Namji Parish. The exact chronology of the earliest mission station should be added only when further official documentation becomes available.