Doksan-dong Church

Overview

Doksandong Church is a parish belonging to Yeongdeungpo-Geumcheon District No. 15 in the West Seoul Region of the Archdiocese of Seoul, located in Doksan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. On August 18, 1978, it was separated and established from Siheung-dong Parish, and its patron is the Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, its jurisdiction covers all of Doksan-dong.

History

[Mission Chapel Period] The Doksan-dong area, then under the jurisdiction of Siheung-dong Parish, formed a preparatory committee for building a new church in October 1977 and then launched as a Catholic mission chapel in the house of preparatory committee chairman Park Jong-guk (Paul). From that time, it organized districts and small groups and organized lay associations, holding Bible meetings and operating a Sunday school, and thus gradually took on the character of a parish. It moved the site of the mission chapel to the Nambu Taekwondo Gymnasium and celebrated Sunday Mass there, and it also received visiting guidance from Sisters of Divine Providence.

[Establishment as a Parish] The year after its launch as a mission chapel, in August 1978, it was elevated to a parish. At the same time as the parish establishment, 270 pyeong of land at the present parish site was secured with support from the diocese, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held in November. The first pastor recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia is Barnabas Choi Jun-ung (1978. 9~1983. 2).

[Church Building and Expansion] On April 7, 1980, a branch house of the Sisters of the Blessed Korean Martyrs was established on the 2 floor of the newly built building, and on September 21 of the same year a dedication ceremony was held for the church with a size of 370 pyeong. Afterwards, a dialogue room, offices, a library and other facilities were expanded and remodeled. As the number of the faithful reached more than 6 thousand, plans were pursued to purchase additional adjacent land and expand the church, and in May 1990 the church was expanded and completed on a land area of 410 pyeong with a total floor area of 777 pyeong.

[Church Growth] The numbers of the faithful recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are, in 1978, 650, in 1980, 1,895, in 1984, 4,520, in 1988, 6,455, and in 1994, 7,606. The online address book of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea lists the current number of the faithful as 3,807.

[Successive Pastors] The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records the first pastor Barnabas Choi Jun-ung (1978. 9~1983. 2), the 2 pastor Theophilus Choi Seung-ryong (1983. 2~1985. 8), the 3 pastor James Jo Won-haeng (1985. 8~1989. 2), the 4 pastor Paul Jeong Ui-deok (1989. 2~1994. 2), and the 5 pastor Eusebius Yang Hong (1994. 2~).

Faith Significance and Visiting Context

According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Doksan-dong Parish carried out activities by various lay associations centered on the pastoral council. From the time of the parish establishment until 1980, for 3 years, it focused on church construction while working to establish the parish administrative system, provide catechetical education, and organize apostolic groups, and after 1981 it pursued community spirit at the family, parish and diocesan levels, renewal of faith, and evangelization, in accordance with the pastoral guidelines set by the bishops and the diocesan bishop.

To deepen devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the patron of the parish, it held the Night of the Sacred Heart, the Feast of the Sacred Heart and other observances, and ahead of the holding in Seoul of the World Eucharistic Congress, it held Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration and other devotions. For fellowship among the faithful, it held sports festivals, speech contests, yut-game tournaments, rosary prayer gatherings, and arts festivals, and it also paid attention to ministry to the elderly through feasts for the elderly, a senior college and similar programs. In 1985 it began to form and operate a liturgy team, in 1992 it opened a family Mass so that whole families could participate in Mass together, and in 1995 it encouraged family prayer in which adults and children took turns serving as leaders once a week.

From March 1986, taking advantage of the local character as an industrial-complex area, it opened the ‘Doksan Culture Classroom’ as a place for the daily-life and cultural education of workers. A volunteer group dedicated to catechumens, called ‘Guide’, was formed, and it carried out evangelization activities such as a campaign in which all the faithful 1 encouraged 1 catechumens to enter the Church and visits to the homes of catechumens. As social outreach, it carried out visits and voluntary service to welfare facilities such as a leprosy village and nursing homes, as well as to prisons and hospitals, provision of scholarships to underprivileged students, and free medical care for extremely poor patients. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia notes as challenges at that time that the faithful moved in and out frequently so that their sense of belonging and participation in meetings were low, and that the number of newly baptized was relatively large compared with the number of long-standing faithful.

Related Places and People

• Siheung-dong Parish: It is the mother parish of Doksan-dong Parish.
• Sisters of the Blessed Korean Martyrs: In April 1980 a branch house was established on the 2 floor of the newly built building.

References and Sources

1. Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, “Doksan-dong Parish”. Separation and establishment from Siheung-dong Parish on August 18, 1978, patron Sacred Heart of Jesus, jurisdiction, statistics on church growth, successive pastors, launch as a mission chapel and elevation to a parish, dedication ceremony in 1980 and expansion in 1990, pastoral activities.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/1424
2. Online Address Book of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, “Doksan-dong”. Affiliated diocese and district (West Seoul Region, Yeongdeungpo-Geumcheon District No. 15), date of establishment 1978.08.18, sisters’ congregation (Sisters of the Blessed Korean Martyrs), patron, number of the faithful.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/Catholic/DetailInfo.aspx?cgubn=c&char=all&code=201000080&gubn=4&gubn2=all&gyogu=201000011