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About this place
Sapa-dong Catholic Church is a parish in Area 1 of the Changwon District of the Diocese of Masan and serves Catholics in Sapa-dong and neighboring areas of Seongsan-gu, Changwon, through Mass, the sacraments, catechesis, and community activities. The Catholic directory names St. John the Baptist as its patron, and the parish is one of the urban Catholic communities formed during the rapid growth of Changwon as a planned city.
The area around the parish experienced fast population growth as the Changwon Industrial Complex expanded and the provincial government moved to the city. Existing parishes, including Gaeum-dong, therefore worked together to promote construction of a new church, and Sapa-dong developed as an independent community serving Catholics in the growing residential districts. Today the parish, under the patronage of St. John the Baptist, reflects the way the local Church grew together with the industrial city of Changwon.
History & origins
The establishment of Sapa-dong Parish was directly connected with the rapid growth of Changwon in the 1980s. As the Changwon Industrial Complex expanded and the provincial government moved into the city, the population increased quickly. Under the leadership of Father John Jeong Sun-gu of Gaeum-dong Parish, representatives from several parishes, including Bansong, Yanggok, Gaeum-dong, and Jung-dong, began discussing the construction of a new church. In December 1987 they purchased the present church site from Changwon City, marking the start of concrete preparations.
After the site was secured, the building plan advanced, and Bishop Joseph Jang Byeong-hwa presided at the groundbreaking ceremony on September 20, 1988. Construction continued into the following year, and Bishop Michael Park Jeong-il presided at the dedication of the new church on June 23, 1989. The diocesan history records that Father John Jeong Sun-gu began his ministry as the first pastor at that time.
The current Catholic directory gives June 24, 1989, as the parish establishment date, the day after the dedication. The two sources therefore describe distinct events rather than conflicting dates. Sapa-dong emerged through a joint effort by neighboring parishes to acquire land and build a church in response to urban expansion, then became an independent parish. Its history clearly reflects the intersection of Changwon’s industrial growth and the pastoral expansion of the Diocese of Masan.
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Masan Diocese (Diocese of Masan)
Official website: https://cathms.kr
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