Weekly Mass Schedule
Korean
Select a Mass time to view sources or report a change.
About this place
Ephatha Parish Church is a parish church established by the Archdiocese of Seoul for the liturgical and faith life of Deaf and hard-of-hearing Catholics. The name “Ephatha” comes from the Aramaic word meaning “Be opened,” spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark when healing a man who could not hear and spoke with difficulty. The parish grew from the long apostolate of the Seoul Catholic Deaf Mission and centers Deaf Catholics while seeking to be a Church in which people with and without disabilities meet together.
The building reflects a community in which sign language and visual information are central to participation in the liturgy. The main church is arranged in stepped seating so that the celebrant and sign-language interpreter can be seen clearly from throughout the space, and a large screen provides captions and visual information. Alongside the main and smaller churches are spaces for language and auditory therapy, education and retreats.
Ephatha is therefore more than a church equipped with accessibility features. It is a place designed to recognize sign language fully as a language of Church life and to enable Deaf Catholics to participate as active members of liturgy and community.
History & origins
The roots of the Ephatha community can be traced to 1957, when the German Sister Heo Ae-deok began teaching catechism to people with hearing disabilities at Donam-dong Church in Seoul. Catechesis and faith gatherings for Deaf Catholics continued around Donam-dong and later expanded through sign-language catechesis and liturgical activity in several locations. In 1986, the Seoul Catholic Deaf Mission was established under Seoul Catholic Social Services, giving the apostolate a more organized foundation.
For many years the mission continued Mass, education and community activities without a church of its own, borrowing space from other Church institutions. As the community grew, the need for a place where Deaf Catholics could see sign language clearly throughout the liturgy became increasingly urgent. Around 2017, when the mission marked sixty years from its 1957 beginnings, construction of a new church entered a full-scale phase.
The new church was completed in August 2019 and dedicated on August 25 with Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung presiding. On the same day, Ephatha Quasi-Parish was raised to the status of a parish. The new building provided a stepped main church designed for clear visibility of sign language, caption screens, a smaller church, language and auditory-therapy rooms, and retreat facilities, finally realizing a dedicated spiritual home long desired by the community.
The name “Ephatha” is closely connected with this history. Taking the Gospel word “Be opened” as its name expresses not only healing but the conviction that the Church itself must be open to communication through sign language and visual forms. The architecture of the new church and the parish’s canonical development gave concrete form to that pastoral vision. The journey from a small catechism class in 1957, through the establishment of the Deaf Mission and decades of worship in borrowed spaces, to an independent parish and church shows how Catholic pastoral ministry for Deaf people in Korea developed into a community-centered parish life.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Epata Parish Church: history and architecture
Read about the place's history, architecture, people, and events in the Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia articles are currently available in Korean.
Would you like to record this place in your pilgrimage passport?
Sign in to keep this record with you.
Building information
- Passenger elevators: 1
- 6 above-ground floors · 2 below-ground floors
- Approved for use in 2019
- Total floor area: 2,405㎡
Building-register record · · Source
Accessibility information
Accessibility information is not available yet. Please check with the location before visiting.
Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Diocese source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
- Last updated
- Source
- Francisco Diary
Diocese
Official website: https://aos.catholic.or.kr
Help verify information
Did the Mass schedule or church information change?
Let us know if you confirmed the displayed information or noticed something different.
Information Status: Official source
Visited here? Share details about toilets, parking or ramps.
Sign in to leave a visitor check.
Sign in to confirm the schedule or report a change.
Reports are saved for review. Mass times are changed after evidence such as official sources is checked, not automatically based on visitor confirmations.