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About this place
Yangdeok-dong Cathedral is the cathedral of the Diocese of Masan and at the same time the parish church of a community in the Masan District. The Directory of the Catholic Church in Korea lists “Yangdeok-dong Cathedral” as a parish of the Diocese of Masan, with the Sacred Heart of Jesus as its patron. A cathedral is the church containing the bishop's cathedra and symbolizes the liturgical unity and pastoral center of a diocese. Yangdeok-dong therefore has two roles at once: it is the church of a local parish and a principal liturgical church representing the Diocese of Masan as a whole.
Its distinctive red-brick architecture is an important visual expression of the identity of both parish and diocese, but the meaning of the place is not limited to its architectural impression. As the cathedral in which major diocesan liturgies and commemorations are held, it is a place where the local parish community and the wider diocesan community meet. Visitors can therefore understand Yangdeok-dong not simply as a large church building but as a central church where the history and present life of faith of the Diocese of Masan intersect. For parishioners it is the setting of everyday community life, while at the diocesan level it is a symbolic place where the bishop, priests, and faithful gather to celebrate the liturgy.
History & origins
In the early 1970s, the Yangdeok-dong area changed rapidly as Hanil Synthetic Fiber and the Masan Free Export Zone brought new housing and a growing workforce. The official history of the Diocese of Masan explains that many Catholics found the existing churches too distant, creating the pastoral need for a new parish. Yangdeok-dong Parish was therefore separated from Sangnam-dong Parish and established on December 8, 1975. At first, the auditorium of the Catholic Women's Center served as a temporary church, and the parish patron at the time was the Holy Family.
Support from the Diocese of Graz in Austria played an important role in building the permanent church. A diocesan account prepared for the parish's fiftieth anniversary records that the first pastor, Fr. Joseph Park Gi-hong, commissioned the architect Paul Kim Swoo-geun to design the church. After enlarging the site, the parish moved ahead with construction; the diocesan parish history records a groundbreaking in 1977 and the completion and dedication of the church in November 1978. The more recent diocesan commemoration again confirms that the red-brick church was built through both local effort and international Catholic support.
After the church was completed, its ecclesial status changed significantly. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia and diocesan sources record that Yangdeok-dong was designated the cathedral of the Diocese of Masan in 1979. In the same transition, the patron changed from the Holy Family, chosen at the parish's founding, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A parish created to meet the needs of a growing neighborhood thus became the principal cathedral church of the diocese within only a few years.
As the city continued to grow, Yangdeok-dong Parish in turn helped give rise to new parishes. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records the separation of Guam-dong Parish in 1987 and Seokjeon-dong Parish in 1991. Seen as a whole, the history of Yangdeok-dong Cathedral runs from the pastoral needs created by industrial urban growth, through the construction of a permanent church and its designation as cathedral, to the later formation of neighboring parishes, making it an important thread in the urban pastoral history of the Diocese of Masan.
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Building information
- Passenger elevators: 0
- 3 above-ground floors · 1 below-ground floors
- Approved for use in 1979
- Total floor area: 2,613㎡
Building-register record · · Source
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Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Diocese source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
- Last updated
- Source
- Francisco Diary
Diocese
Masan Diocese (Diocese of Masan)
Official website: https://cathms.kr
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