녹양동 성당

History & origins

Nogyang-dong Parish was established on September 24, 1992. Its official chronology records the arrival of the first pastor the next day, when parishioners were separated from Uijeongbu 1-dong and Uijeongbu parishes to form the new community. The first Mass was celebrated on October 12 in the basement of the rectory, which served as a temporary chapel.

Construction of a permanent church began with the groundbreaking on April 18, 1993. During construction the community continued worship in a temporary vinyl-house chapel, while support for the building came from a number of other parishes. Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan presided at the dedication of the completed church on October 8, 1995.

The parish's pastoral identity later broadened further. It was designated a specialized migrant-ministry parish on August 23, 2012 and a specialized parish for North Korean defectors on February 2, 2017, adding to its history a role that extends beyond ordinary territorial parish ministry toward migrants and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.