Dasi Catholic Church

History & origins

The Catholic community in Dasi existed before the parish itself as a mission station under Yeongsanpo Parish. Catholic sources record that a church for the Dasi mission was built in 1969, together with a distinctive bell tower whose four sides formed cross shapes. For decades this mission church became the central place where local Catholics celebrated Mass and sustained their community life.

After a long period of growth as a mission community, Dasi was established as an independent parish in 1998. The mission-era church, however, aged over time and suffered from persistent dampness, increasing the need for a new church. Building a new church was difficult for a small rural parish, so parishioners spent many years raising funds through the sale of agricultural and local products, pledged offerings, and collective prayer campaigns.

The new church project moved into a full construction phase in 2017. The design was finalized in early 2018, construction began in June of that year, and the work was completed in February 2019, leading to the dedication of the new church on May 12, 2019. Facilities needed for parish life, including catechetical rooms, dining space, and a priest’s residence, were also improved as part of the project.

Although the old mission church was removed during the rebuilding, its 1969 bell tower was preserved. The new church tower deliberately echoes the four-sided cross form of the older tower, carrying the memory of the mission era into the new building. The history of Dasi can thus be understood as the growth of a small rural mission into a parish that built a new church through long communal effort while consciously preserving a symbol of its earliest Catholic life.