새남터 성당

History & origins

Before Saenamteo Parish was established, the area had already begun to be preserved as a Catholic martyrdom site. The present shrine property was secured in 1950, and a monument honoring the martyrs was erected in 1956. The Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs then became involved in caring for the site. In 1967 the congregation purchased the land of the present church, creating a foundation for preserving the martyrdom site and eventually building a memorial church.

On August 21, 1981, the 150th anniversary year of the establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of Korea, the Archdiocese of Seoul created Saenamteo Parish from parts of Hangang and Samgakji parishes. Fr. Bang Hak-gil of the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs became the first pastor, and Mass was initially celebrated in existing temporary facilities. A prefabricated temporary church was prepared in August 1983, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the new church followed in September.

Construction continued for several years. From 1984, Mass was celebrated in the basement of the building while work was still in progress. On September 12, 1987, the Korean traditional-style memorial church was finally completed and dedicated. A large church, a smaller chapel, exhibition rooms, and a monastery were developed together, forming a complex in which the parish church and the commemoration of the martyrs were closely joined.

The parish continued to deepen this devotion to the martyrs. An association honoring the 103 Korean Martyr Saints was formed in 1987, and in 1996 a relic chapel was established for veneration of saints martyred at Saenamteo. The history of Saenamteo Parish is therefore a process in which the foundation of a local parish and the construction of its church became inseparable from the long-standing task of honoring the martyrs of the site. It is especially important that the parish was established after efforts to preserve the martyrdom site were already under way. At Saenamteo, the land was first secured and a memorial erected; on that foundation the territorial parish was created in 1981 and the memorial church completed in 1987. This sequence distinguishes the history of Saenamteo from that of an ordinary parish church: the parish entered into an already developing history of preserving and honoring a martyrdom site.