Geoje Catholic Church

Overview

Geoje Church is a church in Geoje-myeon, Geoje-si, South Gyeongsang Province, belonging to the Masan Diocese. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, it is the successor of Myeongjin Parish, established in 1935 by separation from Okpo Parish, and its patron is the Queen of Heaven and Earth. From 1949 the parish name has been called ‘Geoje Parish’.

History

[Transmission of faith in Geoje-do] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Geoje-do is a place where traces of the Gospel remain from the persecution era, because many believers were exiled here. According to oral tradition, a relative of Hwang Sa-yeong (Alexander), exiled here at the time of the Shinyu Persecution in 1801, carried out evangelization, but the encyclopedia notes that the roots of that faith have not continued to the present. What is certain is that before the Byeongin Persecution in 1866, Father Ridel (Ridel, Yi Bok-myeong) came here with catechist Gu Thaddeus to evangelize, and that the person who prepared the ground of faith on present-day Geoje-do was Yun Sa-u (Stanislaus), who settled here fleeing persecution. When the Gospel spread through Yun Sa-u’s efforts and a small faith community was formed, Father Robert (Kim Bo-rok) visited here in 1887 and established the Jinmokjeong (now Guksan) Catholic mission chapel. The year after Father Robert left, persecution broke out and Yun Sa-u’s second son Yun Bong-mun (Peter) was arrested and hanged in Jinju. Nevertheless membership grew, mission chapels were established in places such as Myeongjin, Jeosan (now Yangjeong-ri) and Waegu-ri (now Mihyeon-ri), and priests visited regularly.

[Establishment of Myeongjin Parish] According to the encyclopedia, the mission chapels in the Geoje area came to belong to Okpo Parish established in 1926. The first parish priest of this parish, Father Kim Hu-saeng (Paul), established new mission chapels and in 1929 newly established Tongyeong Parish (the predecessor of Chungmu Parish), seeking to establish parishes in other areas as well. As a result, in 1935 the Myeongjin mission chapel (Myeongjin-ri, Dongbu-myeon, Geoje-gun) was raised and separated as a parish, and Father Yi Myeong-u (James) took office as the first parish priest. At that time Myeongjin Parish had 11 affiliated mission chapels and about 800 faithful.

[Church relocation and parish name] The encyclopedia records that Father Go Gun-sam (Benedict) took office as the 2th parish priest in 1942 but was transferred after 1 years, and because of a shortage of priests no parish priest was assigned and only Father Yu Seon-i (Joseph) was assigned to neighboring Okpo Parish, so Myeongjin Parish fell to a quasi-parish administered concurrently by the Okpo parish priest. Father Park Sang-tae (Rusu), who took office in Okpo in 1944, newly built a church in Geoje-myeon and relocated Myeongjin Parish. Okpo Parish was later abolished and then revived. A new priest was assigned to Myeongjin Parish in 1949, and from that time the parish name has been called ‘Geoje Parish’.

[After the 1950s] According to the encyclopedia, Father Kim Gi-bong (Philip), who took office in 1949, was soon transferred, and Father Park Mun-seon (James), who took office next, opened the Our Lady Kindergarten. Around this time there were 17 mission chapels and about 2,500 faithful, and the parish regained vitality from Father Park’s tenure. Father Choe Byeong-seon (John), who took office on December 1953, established and operated the Alma Children’s Home (closed in 1956) and made Jangseungpo Parish independent, and Father Yi Sang-ho (Raymond), who took office on April 1957, newly built a 120-pyeong stone church at the present location in Dongsang-dong and introduced the Legion of Mary. During the tenure of Father Jeong In-sik (Albert), in 1968 a rectory was built. Parish membership no longer increased after the separation of Jangseungpo Parish, and entering the 1970s it rather decreased as migrant faithful increased, and affiliated mission chapels also changed several times to decrease to 6 chapels, the encyclopedia notes.

[Membership and jurisdiction] The membership recorded in the encyclopedia is 801 in 1935, 2,564 in 1950, 2,050 in 1959, 2,516 in 1967, 2,131 in 1983, and 2,060 in 1993. The jurisdiction covers the Geoje-myeon, Dongbu-myeon, Nambu-myeon, Sadeung-myeon and Dundeok-myeon areas, and the affiliated mission chapels are 6 in total: Yulpo (Yulpo-ri, Dongbu-myeon), Gabae (Gabae-ri, Dongbu-myeon), Hakdong (Hakdong-ri, Dongbu-myeon), Tappo (Tappo-ri, Nambu-myeon), Sandal (Sandal-ri, Geoje-myeon) and Dudong (Dudong-ri, Sadeung-myeon). According to the encyclopedia, a total of 22 priests have served since the first Father Yi Myeong-u, and from August 1993, following the 22th Father Kwon Chang-hyeon (Joseph), the 23th parish priest Father Kim Guk-jin (Gaudentius) is in office, and there is a branch of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea directory lists the parish as belonging to Geoje District 2 region, its establishment date as June 15, 1935, its affiliated congregation as the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, its number of faithful as 1,110 and its number of mission chapels as 6.

Related places and figures

• Okpo Parish: established in 1926, it administered the mission chapels in the Geoje area, and its first parish priest Father Kim Hu-saeng separated the Myeongjin mission chapel as a parish. It was later abolished and then revived (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Yun Sa-u (Stanislaus) and Yun Bong-mun (Peter): Yun Sa-u settled in Geoje-do fleeing persecution and prepared the ground of faith, and his second son Yun Bong-mun was hanged in Jinju (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Father Ridel (Ridel, Yi Bok-myeong) and Father Robert (Robert, Kim Bo-rok): Father Ridel evangelized in Geoje-do before the Byeongin Persecution, and Father Robert established the Jinmokjeong mission chapel in 1887 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Jangseungpo Parish: Father Choe Byeong-seon, who took office on December 1953, made it independent from Geoje Parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Tongyeong Parish (predecessor of Chungmu Parish): Father Kim Hu-saeng, the first parish priest of Okpo Parish, newly established it in 1929 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and sources

1. Research Institute for Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Geoje Parish” (Masan Diocese, Volume 1). Transmission of faith in Geoje-do, establishment of Myeongjin Parish in 1935, church relocation in 1944, Geoje Parish name in 1949, separation of Jangseungpo, new church construction, membership, mission chapels, jurisdiction.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/259
2. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Korean Catholic Directory “Geoje” (Masan Diocese). Establishment date 1935.06.15, patron Queen of Heaven and Earth, Geoje District 2 region, congregation, number of faithful, number of mission chapels.
   http://directory.cbck.or.kr/m/catholicInfo.asp?code=201001038&gubun=4