Seocho 3-dong Catholic Church

Overview

Seocho3-dong Church is a parish belonging to Seocho District 12 in the West Seoul Region of the Archdiocese of Seoul, with jurisdiction over Seocho3-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. It was established on October 18, 1993, and its patron saint is St. Pio (St. Pio). It began temporarily in a basement chapel in a building and dedicated a new church on May 9, 2004.

History

[Parish establishment] The parish history on the parish website records the establishment of the parish on October 18, 1993, the appointment of Father Kim Mu-hyeon Vincenzio on November 5, the celebration of the first Mass at Seocho3-dong Church on November 7, the formation of the steering committee on November 28 (chair Ahn Hoe-seok Thomas), and the organization of districts and groups and the appointment of district leaders on December 19 (11 districts). In 1994, interior work on the basement chapel on basement floor 2 of Jinseok Building began on February 14 and was completed on April 24, and there were the first catechesis for the elementary and middle- and high-school Sunday schools on March 5–6, the appointment of 2 sisters on March 8 (Park Sun-ae Modesta and Jeong Yeong-hui Gemma), the formation of the pastoral council on March 13 (chair Lee Gong-heon Paul), and the first baptism in the parish on December 11. The first confirmation took place on November 18, 1995.

[History of the 1990s] In 1996, marking the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of Father Kim Dae-geon, there were a prayer for the enshrinement of relics on June 29, a 2th novena on September 6, and a commemorative faith rally on September 15, and on November 17 it won second place in the year-end competition held at the Myeongdong Church education center among 179 churches of the Archdiocese of Seoul. On June 22, 1997, it began a campaign to offer 2,300 rosaries on a 1-year schedule. There were the founding general meeting of the youth group on February 6, 1999 and the opening of the parish website on February 28, and a Great Jubilee event on October 22 and a free joint wedding for the Great Jubilee on November 10.

[Church construction] On April 12, 2000, it purchased the church construction site (Seocho3-dong 1535-8, 1,105.8㎡). On January 20, 2001, it selected Hanbit General Architecture Office for the church design, held a bazaar to raise the construction fund on September 23, and received a building permit from the Seocho District Office on November 26. On February 17, 2002, it appointed church-construction advisers and promoters (chair Park Geon-ung Marco), selected Beomhan General Construction as the builder on February 22, and held a groundbreaking ceremony and Mass presided over by Bishop Kim Ok-gyun Paul on March 10. On June 22, it purchased the convent (Yerim Heights Villa No. 302, 1531-2, Seocho3-dong). The new church was completed on December 1, 2003, and the dedication ceremony presided over by Archbishop Jeong Jin-seok Nicholas was held on May 9, 2004. The rooftop Marian garden was completed on June 12, 2005, and the plaque for construction donations was blessed on November 26, 2006.

[History from the mid-2000s] On September 25, 2005, it held the 1th Parish Day event at Umyeonsan Mountain and Seoul High School gymnasium. There were the priestly ordination of Lee Sang-won Veda on July 12, 2007 and his first Mass on July 15, and on September 21, 2008 it held Parish Day for the 15th anniversary of the parish establishment (Seoul High School), and on June 18 it appointed advisers for compiling the 15-year parish history. On October 31, 2010, it appointed a building committee for an education center, and there were a parish-wide retreat for the 20th anniversary of the parish establishment on May 25, 2013 and the opening of the meeting-room cafe on July 12, 2015. After the diaconal ordination of Jo Dong-won Antonio on February 9, 2012, his priestly ordination followed on February 1, 2013, and after the diaconal ordination of Kang Ji-su Vincenzio Lelens on February 4, 2016, his priestly ordination followed on February 3, 2017.

[Recent history] On May 9, 2021, the blessing ceremony for the church-environment improvement work was held, presided over by Bishop Jeong Sun-taek Peter, and on May 30 the Shalom Plaza and the Mary Sky Garden were opened. On September 1, 2022, it appointed volunteers for the commemorative collection for the 30th anniversary of the parish establishment and founded the St. Tarcisio altar-server group. On February 22, 2023, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its establishment, it began Bible transcription by area and the offering of 50 rosaries by district, and on September 24 it held a Mass and feast for the 30th anniversary of the parish establishment.

[Successive pastors] The changes of pastor recorded in the history are Kim Mu-hyeon Vincenzio (appointed on November 5, 1993 and transferred on October 9, 1998), Jo Yong-u Stefano (appointed on October 9, 1998 and transferred on August 30, 1999), Kim Hun-gyeom John the Baptist (appointed on October 1, 1999 and transferred on September 21, 2004), Jeong Yeong-jin Domingo (appointed on September 21, 2004 and transferred on September 1, 2009), Jeong Un-pil Benedict (appointed on September 1, 2009 and transferred on September 2, 2014), Kim Yong-bong Peter (appointed on September 2, 2014 and transferred on August 27, 2019), and Choe Jong-geon Michael (appointed on August 27, 2019). On August 30, 1999, Father Kim Seong-gil Martino was appointed temporarily.

Jurisdiction and Affiliation

The online directory of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea lists the affiliated diocese as the Archdiocese of Seoul, the region/district as Seocho District 12 in the West Seoul Region, the date of establishment as 1993.10.18, the sisters as the Sisters of Divine Providence, the patron as St. Pio, the number of faithful as 5,431, and the number of Catholic mission chapels as 0.

Related Places and People

• Basement chapel in Jinseok Building: the basement chapel that was refurbished and used in 1994 in the early days of the parish.
• Archbishop Jeong Jin-seok Nicholas: he presided over the church dedication ceremony on May 9, 2004.
• Bishop Kim Ok-gyun Paul: he presided over the church groundbreaking ceremony on March 10, 2002.
• St. Pio: the patron saint of the parish.

References and Sources

1. Seocho3-dong Church, “Parish Introduction”. Date of establishment, patron saint, and jurisdictional area.
   https://www.seocho3catholic.or.kr/pages/sub11.php
2. Seocho3-dong Church, “Parish History – the 1990s”. Establishment, first Mass, basement chapel, early history, and changes of pastor.
   https://www.seocho3catholic.or.kr/pages/sub12_4.php
3. Seocho3-dong Church, “Parish History – the 2000s”. Purchase of the church site, design, permit and groundbreaking, completion, dedication ceremony, and 15th anniversary.
   https://www.seocho3catholic.or.kr/pages/sub12_3.php
4. Seocho3-dong Church, “Parish History – the 2010s”. Education-center building committee, 20th anniversary, priestly ordinations, and changes of pastor.
   https://www.seocho3catholic.or.kr/pages/sub12_2.php
5. Seocho3-dong Church, “Parish History – the 2020s”. Blessing of the environment-improvement work and 30th anniversary events.
   https://www.seocho3catholic.or.kr/pages/sub12_1.php
6. Online directory of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, “Seocho3-dong”. Affiliated diocese and district, date of establishment, sisters, patron, and number of faithful.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/Catholic/DetailInfo.aspx?cgubn=c&char=all&code=201000140&gubn=4&gubn2=all&gyogu=201000011