Mukho Sea Star Catholic Church

History & origins

Mukho Parish developed from a mission station under Imdang-dong Parish and was elevated to parish status in June 1948. At that time there was no proper church building, so a Japanese-style house near Mukho Port served as a temporary priest’s residence and place for Mass. Fr. Patrick Reilly became parish priest in 1949, but the outbreak of the Korean War the following year brought a severe crisis. Despite parishioners urging him to flee, Fr. Reilly remained with the community. He was arrested and, while being transferred toward Gangneung, was killed at Bamjae-gol on August 29, 1950.

With the parish priest gone, the community declined sharply, and in 1954 Mukho became a mission station of Samcheok Seongnae-dong Parish. After the war, Bishop Thomas Quinlan sought to build churches at Soyang-ro, Mukho, and Samcheok in memory of priests who had died during the conflict. At Mukho, the present church building was completed in June 1957. The community again took its place as an independent parish, with “Star of the Sea” as its patron, and a portion of the relics of St. Andrew Kim Taegon was enshrined in the church.

The parish also took part in educational work for children from poor local families. In 1968 it took over Namho Vocational Middle and High School, renamed it Namho Higher Civic School, and continued the work until the school closed in 1982. In 1974 a memorial to Fr. Reilly was erected in the church grounds, and the parish has continued to observe days of remembrance around the anniversary of his martyrdom. This history shows how the story of Mukho Church has been shaped by the wounds of war, the rebuilding of a local Catholic community, and the continuing remembrance of a martyr priest.