서원동 성당

History & origins

The roots of Seowon-dong Parish go back to January 1967, when the Sillim mission station was established under Sangdo-dong Parish. As residential development in southwestern Seoul expanded rapidly, Sillim-dong also needed a more independent pastoral center. The parish’s official history records that Fr. Choi Seo-sik Lawrence arrived as the first pastor on September 30, 1969, that Sillim-dong was raised to parish status on October 5, and that a temporary church was completed in December. The current Catholic directory, however, lists September 11, 1969, as the founding date. Because the detailed dates differ between the sources, it is safest to understand the parish structure as having been established in the autumn of 1969.

The parish soon expanded its church and pastoral foundations. Nangok mission station was established in 1971, and in 1972 sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help began service there, followed in April by the groundbreaking for a new church. A convent was built in 1976. As the Catholic population and surrounding neighborhoods continued to grow, Sillim 10-dong mission station opened in 1980 and Sillim 4-dong mission station in 1983. Work to enlarge and renovate the church began in 1986, and the renewed church was consecrated in November 1987.

As the parish network in Gwanak became denser, Seowon-dong’s territory was repeatedly adjusted. Responsibility for Sillim 4-dong mission station was transferred to Nangok-dong Parish in 1988, and in 1992 about 4,500 Catholics in Sillim 6, 9, and 10-dong were transferred to the newly organized Samsungsan Parish. During the 1990s the parish also enshrined relics of saints and opened Bona Childcare Center, combining devotional life with social care. The church was renovated again in 2014–2015. Seowon-dong’s history is thus one of a community that grew from a mission station, expanded its worship and pastoral infrastructure with urban development, and then helped form the wider parish network of Gwanak by passing territory to newer communities.