길음동(지) 성당

History & origins

The direct origin of Gireum Parish lies in the Miari mission station established in February 1942 by Fr. Peter Seong Jae-deok under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows. As the mission community grew through regular Mass, it was separated from Baekdong Parish, today's Hyehwa-dong Parish, and established on November 3, 1944, as the eighth parish in Seoul.

Construction of a new stone church began in 1957 and it was dedicated in 1958. In 1982 the parish name changed from Miadong to Gireum-dong. A larger main church was completed in 1987 and consecrated by Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan in 1988. In 2009 the church was linked spiritually with the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome as a Marian pilgrimage church, and in 2015 it was designated the representative parish of the Seongbuk District.