Seongsimwon Catholic Church

History & origins

The history of Sungsimwon Quasi-Parish begins with the establishment of Sungsimwon in June 1959. In March 1961, the Italian missionary Fr. Simone Jeong arrived, and the community gradually developed the facilities needed for liturgical and pastoral life. A rectory and church were built in 1964, followed by a convent the next year. The new church was dedicated on April 24, 1966, in a ceremony presided over by Bishop John Choi Jae-seon, then Bishop of Busan.

After Fr. Simone Jeong, who had laid the foundations of Sungsimwon, returned to his home country in 1970, Fr. Donatus Kang Ji-hong took responsibility for the quasi-parish. Fr. Diego Min Jeong-sik, who arrived in April 1978, strengthened the parish-like organization of the community by forming a pastoral council and introducing regular parish contributions, even though most members were patients living in a socially isolated environment. In May of the same year, Fr. Aloysius Yu joined the quasi-parish as assistant priest.

The church continued to develop as the center of Catholic life within Sungsimwon. On July 25, 1997, a priestly ordination was celebrated at Sungsimwon with Bishop Michael Park Jeong-il of Masan presiding. In 1998, the fourteen Stations of the Cross were installed along the path from Sungsimwon toward Sipjabong, and in May 2000 a columbarium was established behind the church.

This history shows that Sungsimwon Quasi-Parish was more than a church building inside a social-welfare institution. Over many decades it organized and sustained the liturgical, sacramental, and prayer life of patients and residents. The central historical pattern is the growth of a faith community that began alongside a community of care and gradually developed a church building and a stable quasi-parish pastoral structure.