Hagye-dong Catholic Church

Overview

Hagye-dong Church is a parish in Nowon District No. 5 of the Jung Seoul Region of the Archdiocese of Seoul, separated from Gongneung-dong Church with establishment approval from the archdiocesan office dated September 24, 1992. Its patron is Our Lady of Banneux, known as the ‘Virgin of the Poor.’

History

〔Establishment〕 According to the parish status page on the parish website, the date of establishment is the archdiocesan establishment approval of September 24, 1992 (split from Gongneung-dong Church). In the same year, on October 8 the first Mass was celebrated and the first pastor, Fr. Alberto Han Seong-ho, took office, and on November 28, 1993 the officers of the 1th Pastoral Council were appointed. At the time of establishment there were 954 households and 2,512 parishioners (1,008 men and 1,504 women), and by November 13, 1999 there were 2,050 households and 5,363 parishioners (2,134 men and 3,229 women).

〔Church Building Construction〕 According to the brief history, the topping-out ceremony for the new church building was held on December 19, 1997, the first Mass was celebrated in the new church on October 3, 1998, and on August 27, 2000 the dedication Mass for the church was celebrated with Archbishop Jeong Jin-seok presiding. On January 16, 1994 there was a celebration designating the parish patronal feast day (January 15) as Parish Day.

〔Patron Saint, Our Lady of Banneux〕 According to the patron saint introduction on the parish website, the ‘Virgin of the Poor’ appeared a total of 8 times to Mariette Beco, who lived in the small village of Banneux (Banneux) in Belgium, from January 15, 1933 to March 2. All the apparitions occurred around seven o’clock in the evening, and Bishop Kerkhofs of Liège, 16 years after the apparitions, in 1949, officially recognized the apparitions of Our Lady of Banneux and authorized visits to the shrine. The parish status page lists the patron as ‘Our Lady of Banneux (Banneux) – Virgin of the Poor.’

〔Successive Pastors〕 The changes of pastors recorded in the brief history are as follows. First pastor Fr. Alberto Han Seong-ho (took office on October 8, 1992, left office on September 19, 2000), 2th pastor Fr. Peter Kim Taek-am (took office on September 19, 2000, left office on October 4, 2005), 3th pastor Fr. Michael Lee Seong-un (took office on October 4, 2005, left office on September 5, 2006), 4th pastor Fr. Lino Kwon Tae-hyeong (took office on September 5, 2006, left office on August 30, 2011), 5th pastor Fr. Nereus Kim Ja-mun (took office on August 30, 2011), 6th pastor Fr. Daegeon Andrew Kim Chung-seop (took office on November 3, 2011, left office on February 17, 2015), 7th pastor Fr. Paul Jeong Ui-deok (took office on February 17, 2015, left office on February 18, 2020), 8th pastor Fr. Joseph Kim Ung-tae (took office on February 18, 2020, left office on August 27, 2024), and 9th pastor Fr. Paul Kwon Hyeok-jun (took office on August 27, 2024).

〔Assistant Priests and Sisters〕 The brief history records the following changes of assistant priests: on February 14, 2017 the 10th Fr. Peter Song Hwan-jin left office and the 11th Fr. Justin Ha Seong-yong took office; on February 18, 2020 the 11th Fr. Ha Seong-yong left office and the 12th Fr. Hasang Paul Cha Gyeong-rin took office; on February 8, 2022 the 12th Fr. Cha Gyeong-rin left office and the 13th Fr. Peter Lee Won-seok took office; and on August 27, 2024 the 13th Fr. Lee Won-seok left office. For head sisters, it records that on February 2, 2021 the 9th Sr. Helena O Yeong-ok left office and the 10th Sr. Maria Yun Hyeong-suk took office, and on February 4, 2024 the 10th Sr. Yun Hyeong-suk left office and the 11th Sr. Sophia Bara Kim In-ok took office. For evangelization sisters, it is recorded that on January 30, 2023 the 18th Sr. Maria Kim Gyeong-hui left office and the 19th Sr. Elizabeth Choe Chun-mi took office, and the parish status page introduces the 20th evangelization sister, Scholastica Baek Hyeon-mi.

〔Priests from the Parish〕 The brief history records priestly ordinations of parish natives as Pius Kim Yeon-sang on July 2, 2004, John Bosco Jeon In-geol on February 10, 2012, and Daegeon Andrew Kwon Hyeok-sin on February 5, 2016.

〔Jurisdiction Area and Size〕 The parish website lists as its jurisdiction areas District 1 (single-family housing area in Hagye 1-dong, Kolon Villa, Ubang Apartments), District 2 (Miseong Apartments), District 3 (Cheongsol Apartments), District 4 (Jangmi Apartments), District 12 (Byeoksan Apartments), District 13 (Jugong Complex 9 Apartments), District 14 (Hanshin Dongseong Apartments), and District 15 (Samik Seon-gyeong Apartments), and notes that the regional system was newly established from May 2014. The number of faithful is given as 4,457 persons (1,884 men and 2,573 women) in 1,914 households, as of August 28, 2024.

Jurisdiction and Affiliation

The online directory of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea lists the diocese as the Archdiocese of Seoul, the region and district as Nowon District No. 5 of the Jung Seoul Region, the date of establishment as 1992.09.24, the religious congregation as the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, the patron as Our Lady of Banneux, the number of faithful as 4,778, and the number of mission chapels as 0.

Related Places and People

• Gongneung-dong Church: the mother parish from which Hagye-dong Church was separated in 1992.
• Fr. Alberto Han Seong-ho: the first pastor.
• Archbishop Jeong Jin-seok: presided at the church dedication Mass on August 27, 2000.
• Banneux (Banneux): the village in Belgium where the patron Our Lady of Banneux appeared in 1933.

References and Sources

1. Hagye-dong Church, “Parish Introduction”. Establishment approval, first Mass, church construction, successive pastors, assistants and sisters, parish-native priests, jurisdiction areas and number of faithful.
   https://hgcc.or.kr/bbs/content.php?co_id=hgcc
2. Hagye-dong Church, “Patron Saint”. Introduction to the apparitions of Our Lady of Banneux in 1933 and their recognition in 1949.
   https://hgcc.or.kr/bbs/content.php?co_id=saint
3. Online directory of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, “Hagye-dong”. Affiliated diocese and district, date of establishment, religious congregation, patron, and number of faithful.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/Catholic/DetailInfo.aspx?cgubn=c&char=all&code=201000239&gubn=4&gubn2=all&gyogu=201000011