Myeongnyeong Shrine

Overview

Myeongnye Shrine is a shrine of the Masan Diocese by the Nakdong River in Myeongnye-ri, Hanam-eup, Miryang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, the hometown of Blessed Marco Sin Seok-bok, martyred during the Byeongin Persecution (1866), and the place where the first parish of the Masan Diocese was established. It comprises the Church of the Assumption, designated as Gyeongsangnam-do Cultural Heritage Material (former Myeongnye Church), and the Memorial Church of Marco Sin Seok-bok dedicated in 2018, among others.

History

According to the Myeongnye Shrine website and Good News Catholic Information, Myeongnye lies by the Nakdong River, the lifeline of the Yeongnam region, where a ferry linking Miryang and Gimhae once operated. It was always crowded with people seeking to cross this ferry, and it was a village of the faithful where believers fleeing persecution settled and lived. The Catholic Newspaper writes that the old place names here were Myeokrye or Mirye and that it was also called ‘Noejin,’ meaning ‘pebble ferry.’

According to Good News, Sin Seok-bok (Marco) was born in Myeongnye, Miryang in 1828 as the son of a relatively comfortable family, and lived by farming while peddling malt yeast and salt. He seems to have become a believer through the encouragement of the faithful settled at the ferry, and at the time of his martyrdom his brothers were not yet believers, though later all of them entered the Church. When the Byeongin Persecution broke out in 1866, runners sent down from Daegu rushed into Myeongnye, found his house, seized his property, and, learning that he had gone to trade at Mapo in Changwon, waited on his way back and arrested him on the road at Gasan-ri, Hallim-myeon, Gimhae, and transferred him under guard to Miryang. It was more than 10 years after he had entered the Church.

After Sin Seok-bok was punished for one day in Miryang and transferred to Daegu, his brothers, hearing the news, raised money and followed him to ransom him from the runners, but he asked his elder brother not to give them a single coin. Held in prison for 9 days at the Gyeongsang provincial office in Daegu, he underwent three interrogations and punishments but did not abandon his faith, answering, ‘Even if you release me, I will observe the Catholic faith again.’ In the end he was martyred by hanging, on March 31, 1866 (or March 18), at the age of 38 (Good News). The Catholic Newspaper records his age at martyrdom as 39.

According to Good News, his son Sin Yeong-sun Ignatius recovered his father’s remains in Daegu, but, opposed by local notables and the Sin clan, could not bury them on their hometown land and enshrined them at Norumok on the hill behind Hallimjeong across the Nakdong River. On December 1, 1975, believers of the Jinyeong Parish transferred the remains to the parish cemetery (now Yeorae-ri, Jinyeong-eup, Gimhae-si). The Catholic Newspaper reports that these remains were moved again in 2018 to the memorial church in Myeongnye and enshrined in the Resurrection Chapel. The martyr’s name was confused with his son Sin Yeong-sun Ignatius while editing the ‘Record of Martyrdom’ in 1895 and was known for a time as ‘Sin Ignatius,’ then corrected to Marco in the ‘History of the Byeongin Martyrs’ published in 1925. Among his descendants, the youngest son of Ignatius, Sin Sun-gyun Paul, was ordained to the priesthood in 1935 and died in 1948.

The Myeongnye Shrine website states that on June 10, 1896 the Myeongnye Catholic mission chapel was raised to a parish. It was the fourth church in the Yeongnam region and the first church in the Masan Diocese. Good News gives this as 1897, while the Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia writes that a mission chapel was founded in 1887 and raised to a parish in September 1897, so the year differs by source. The first pastor was Father Laurentius Kang Seong-sam (1866-1903), who, according to the website, was ordained with Fathers Kang Do-yeong and Jeong Gyu-ha on April 26, 1896 at Yakhyeon Church in Seoul, the third Korean priests ordained after Fathers Andrew Kim Dae-geon and Thomas Choe Yang-eop. According to Good News, Father Kang ministered here continuously and died in Myeongnye in 1903.

The website explains that a three-room house at lot 1122 in Myeongnye-ri was purchased and the first church was built in 1897, but it was completely destroyed by a storm on August 20, 1904. In May 1926 the 2 pastor, Father Marco Gwon Yeong-jo, arrived, tore down the existing building, moved its location, and completed a tile-roofed wooden church in August 1928, celebrating its dedication presided over by Bishop Florian Demange of the Daegu Diocese. In 1936 the second church was also completely destroyed by a typhoon, but a statue of Mary and the tabernacle were found undamaged in the ruins, and in 1938 Chairman Kim Yu-in restored the church on a reduced scale at his own expense. Good News writes that, as of 1898, Father Kang had built a four-room house on the present site and that the church blessed in 1928 was completely destroyed by a typhoon in 1935, so the yearly dating differs. The Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia explains that the church was first built near the birthplace of Marco Sin Seok-bok in 1897 and moved to its present location by Father Gwon in 1928.

As the parish seat later moved, Myeongnye Church became a Catholic mission chapel of the Masan, Samnangjin and Jinyeong Parishes, then was left for a time as an empty church used by no one (Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia). The Catholic Newspaper conveys the words of the shrine priest Father Park Jin-u that the hanok church, where no Mass was celebrated, survived intact because neighboring believers cared for it steadily.

The development as a shrine began in 2006 when Father Edward Lee Je-min of the Masan Diocese found the birthplace site of Sin Seok-bok after inquiries. The birthplace site lay right beside the diocese’s first parish, but a livestock shed stood on it (Catholic Newspaper). According to Good News, in April 2007 a hanok at the entrance was purchased and repaired, and in August of that year it was named ‘House of Lawrence’ after the baptismal name of Father Kang. The Masan Diocese decided in 2008 to establish a committee for developing the Myeongnye Shrine and formed it the following year (chairman: Father Lee), and from August 2009 celebrated Mass every Saturday while explaining the history of Myeongnye to visiting believers. In 2010 the birthplace site of Sin Seok-bok and the surrounding land were purchased and an outdoor stone altar was installed in August. The Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia records the purchase of the birthplace site and the restoration of the rectory as events of 2011. The Catholic Newspaper reports that Father Lee worked as the shrine priest from 2009 for 10 years, conducting fundraising through the ‘Melting Salt Campaign.’

Myeongnye Church was designated on February 24, 2011 as Gyeongsangnam-do Cultural Heritage Material No. 526 (National Heritage Portal, Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia). According to the Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia, the designation number was removed on November 19, 2021 and, with the enforcement of the ‘Framework Act on National Heritage’ on May 17, 2024, it was changed to Gyeongsangnam-do Cultural Heritage Material. According to Good News, a shrine priest took office from January 7, 2011 and celebrated daily Mass, and after the shed on the birthplace site was relocated and demolished, the rectory and the birthplace site were blessed on June 10.

Sin Seok-bok was raised to the Blessed on August 16, 2014 at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul by Pope Francis, together with 123 fellow martyrs (Good News). After a groundbreaking ceremony on March 4, 2017, the dedication of the ‘Memorial Church of Marco Sin Seok-bok’ was celebrated on May 19, 2018, presided over by Diocesan Bishop Bae Gi-hyeon. It was 12 years after the discovery of the birthplace site and 14 months after the new shrine development project was launched. At that time the newly built guidance center at the entrance of the shrine was named ‘House of Lawrence,’ and it was decided to call the existing heritage church the ‘Church of the Assumption’ after the patron of Myeongnye Church (Good News).

Architecture and Grounds

The Church of the Assumption is the hanok church known as Miryang Myeongnye Church. According to the Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia, it was built with a hipped roof with single eaves, 5 bays at the front and 2 bays at the side, and its floor plan consists of a 1-bay sacristy and a 4-bay chapel from the left. Two entrances were provided for separate use by men and women, and the wooden structure inside, divided between men’s and women’s sections, is one of the few old forms remaining in the country, well showing the architectural style of the early Catholic Church. The shrine website explains that it was designated as Gyeongsangnam-do Cultural Heritage Material in 2011 in recognition of the well-preserved value of the altar attached to the wall, the partition where men and women sat separately, and the handwritten Way of the Cross. The National Heritage Portal records this heritage as a Japanese-occupation-period church building of 1 buildings with an area of 65 square meters. The Catholic Newspaper introduces the present church as the third building erected and notes that a statue of Mary of the Assumption is enshrined at the very top of the altar.

According to the Catholic Newspaper, the Memorial Church of Marco Sin Seok-bok was designed by architect Seung Hyo-sang. To avoid harming the hill and ridge, the sanctuary was placed below ground level, and the stepped exposed-concrete structure above the sanctuary serves both as the roof of the memorial church and as seating for believers during outdoor Mass. The striking 12 rectangular structures embody the ‘spirituality of salt’ that melts away while influencing the world, and light entering through the window of each rectangle reaches down to the underground sanctuary. The website explains that the interior of the sanctuary consists of 7 pillars and a cloister. The Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia writes that this church is equipped with a sanctuary seating 200, an exhibition hall, seminar rooms and other facilities. The remains of Blessed Sin Seok-bok are enshrined in the Resurrection Chapel to the left of the altar.

According to the website, there is an outdoor altar on the birthplace site of Sin Seok-bok, once used as a livestock shed. The shrine grounds include the ‘House of Lawrence,’ comprising offices, a religious-goods shop, a dining hall and a café, an outdoor Way of the Cross dedicated with 14 Stations and enshrining a statue of Mary, Queen of Martyrs, on the site where the first Myeongnye Church was built, and a Marian garden. The website introduces a meditation space, the Salt Chapel, under development at the far end of the shrine, shaping the tomb of Jesus by opening an entrance in the old village water-tank building and making the wood of the cross from stone rafters salvaged while repairing the Church of the Assumption.

Religious Meaning and Context for Visits

The Myeongnye Shrine website explains that the memorial church was dedicated on the birthplace site to create a shrine where visitors can sense the ‘spirituality of yeast and salt’ of Martyr Marco Sin Seok-bok. The Catholic Newspaper reports that the ‘spirituality of salt’ that melts itself to help the world permeates every part of the shrine. Good News introduces Myeongnye as the spiritual hometown and source of faith of the Masan Diocese. The Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia likewise values Myeongnye Church, the earliest Catholic church founded in Gyeongsangnam-do, as the spiritual hometown of the Masan Diocese.

Related Places and People

• Marco Sin Seok-bok: the Blessed born in Myeongnye in 1828 and martyred by hanging in Daegu in 1866.
• Laurentius Kang Seong-sam: the first pastor of Myeongnye Parish and the third Korean priest.
• Father Edward Lee Je-min: found the birthplace site of Sin Seok-bok in 2006 and served as shrine priest from 2009 for 10 years.
• Seung Hyo-sang: the architect who designed the Memorial Church of Marco Sin Seok-bok.
• Jinyeong Parish cemetery: where the remains of Sin Seok-bok were enshrined from 1975 to 2018.

References and Sources

1. Myeongnye Shrine website, Introduction to Myeongnye Shrine. Checked the parish elevation and first pastor, church construction and restoration, and the memorial church and shrine facilities.
   https://myungrye.co.kr/child/sub/about/info.php
2. Good News Catholic Information, Myeongnye Shrine of the Masan Diocese. Checked the life and martyrdom of Sin Seok-bok, the history of the enshrinement of his remains, the shrine development process, and the beatification.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2842&menugubun=holyplace
3. Digital Miryang Culture Encyclopedia, Miryang Myeongnye Church and Memorial Church of Marco Sin Seok-bok. Checked the year of parish elevation, building structure, heritage designation and change, and the scale of the memorial church.
   https://miryang.grandculture.net/miryang/toc/GC08701126
4. Catholic Newspaper, Pilgrimage, Walking and Praying: Myeongnye Shrine of the Masan Diocese (published on May 31, 2026). Checked place names, the history of the transfer of the remains, the discovery of the birthplace site and shrine development, and the design and structure of the memorial church.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20260521500152
5. National Heritage Portal, Gyeongsangnam-do Cultural Heritage Material Miryang Myeongnye Church. Checked the designation date (February 24, 2011) and scale (1 buildings, 65 square meters).
   https://www.heritage.go.kr/heri/cul/culSelectDetail.do?ccbaCpno=3413805260000