세곡동성당

History & origins

The formation of Segok-dong parish was directly connected with large-scale housing development in southern Gangnam. As apartment complexes were built in the Segok district, Suseo-dong parish began preparing for a future independent parish and church. According to the official Suseo parish history, a contract for the church site was signed on May 9, 2013; the design was presented in 2014; and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 29, 2015.

Construction proceeded through cooperation between existing Suseo parishioners and Catholics who would later form the Segok community. A topping-out Mass was celebrated in March 2016, and a concert marking completion was held in December of that year. On January 22, 2017, Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung presided over the dedication of the new church, giving the future parish a stable liturgical home before formal independence.

The official Catholic directory records February 1, 2017, as the establishment date of Segok-dong parish. The Suseo parish history, however, records February 14 as the date when Segok was formally separated, with about 3,043 Catholics moving to the new community. These records appear to distinguish the canonical establishment date from the practical or administrative moment of division. It is therefore safest to say that the parish came into being in February 2017 without forcing the two dates into a single event.

Church reporting at the time said that about 90 percent of Catholics in the new Segok district had moved there from elsewhere. Support from Suseo parish and neighboring communities helped those newcomers form a faith community quickly in an unfamiliar residential area. The history of Segok-dong is thus both a story of creating a parish in response to urban development and one of an existing community sharing resources for a future community.