Pyunggeo-dong Catholic Church

History & origins

The formation of Pyeonggeodong Parish began with the growth of western Jinju and the process of creating a new community from Sinandong Parish. Diocesan sources state that Pyeonggeodong was separated from Sinandong and established as a new parish community. The Catholic Directory in Korea records its establishment in 2019, while the diocesan parish profile notes that Fr. Rino Joo Yong-min arrived as the first pastor on January 13 of that year. This shows that the new parish began not merely as an administrative division but as a distinct pastoral community with its own priest.

The parish did not begin by constructing an entirely new church building. Instead, the existing facility known as the “Young Jesus House” was adapted for parish use. According to the Diocese of Masan, remodeling work was carried out so that the building could function as a church, and the first Mass was celebrated there on May 5 after the work was completed. By converting an existing Church facility into the liturgical and pastoral space of a new parish, the community was able to establish a practical base within a relatively short period of preparation.

With the separation of the parish, the area west of the road linking No. 10 Square and Huimang Bridge—parts of Pyeonggeo-dong and all of Panmun-dong—was organized as the new pastoral territory. A diocesan feature on Sinandong Parish says that the two communities remained closely connected during preparations and that 423 households, comprising 1,002 Catholics, moved into the new Pyeonggeodong community in the division. This indicates that the new parish began with a substantial existing Catholic population rather than as a small pioneering community.

The history of Pyeonggeodong therefore differs from that of an old mission station gradually growing into a parish over many decades. Its defining pattern was a response to urban expansion and changes in the distribution of Catholics in western Jinju: a community was separated from an existing parish, an available Church facility was reorganized as a parish church, and a new pastoral unit was created. In this sense, its foundation illustrates how the Diocese of Masan reorganized pastoral territory and space in a modern urban setting.