Taereung Church

Overview

Taereung Church is a parish belonging to Nowon District No. 5 in the Jung-Seoul Region of the Archdiocese of Seoul, located in Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul. On September 9, 2004, it was separated from its mother parish, Gongneung-dong Church, starting as Gongneung 2-dong Church, and on November 25 of the same year it changed its name to Taereung Church. Its patron is the Holy Family.

History

[Establishment] According to the parish history, on December 29, 2001 it purchased the church site (3,429㎡), and held the groundbreaking ceremony on April 20, 2003 and the ridge-beam raising ceremony on March 14, 2004. On September 9, 2004, it was divided from Gongneung-dong Church (covering all of Gongneung 2-dong) and named Gongneung 2-dong, with a district population of 47,326, 3,064 faithful, and 1,094 households at the time. On September 21, Father Thomas Aquinas Yu Domas took office as the 1 pastor, the church building (1,589㎡) was completed on November 12, and on November 25 the parish name was changed from Gongneung 2-dong Church to Taereung Church.

[Later history] On July 8, 2005, the priestly ordination of Joseph Na Chung-yeol took place, and on September 9, 2007, the dedication Mass for the church was celebrated with Cardinal Jeong Jin-seok presiding. On March 28, 2008, a Sister of the Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus took up her post. On February 1, 2013, Cosmas Kim Gwang-du and Alexander Song In-hoe, and on February 1, 2018, Emmanuel Ryu Su-yeong received priestly ordination. On May 20, 2020, work began on renewing the parish website, and the website was opened on September 1.

[Successive pastors] The pastors listed in the history are the 1 Thomas Aquinas Yu Domas (took office on September 21, 2004), the 2 Joseph Park Won-ju (September 1, 2009), the 3 John the Apostle Yeo In-yeong (February 22, 2011), the 4 John the Baptist Han Sang-mun (February 16, 2016), and the 5 Paul Lee Cheol-hak (February 18, 2020). The associate pastors listed in the history are the 2 John the Apostle Kim Gyeong-sik (February 22, 2011), Thomas Lee Uk-jin (February 12, 2012), the 3 Simon Jeon Chang-hun (February 17, 2015), the 4 Justino Seo Du-yong (February 14, 2017), the 5 Paul Kim Dong-ho (February 12, 2019), and the 6 John the Baptist Choi Jin-ho (February 8, 2022).

Jurisdiction and Affiliation

The parish introduction page explains that the parish is in the middle of Gongneung village in northeastern Seoul, that it purchased the church site at the end of 2001 and built it, and that it was separated from its mother parish, Gongneung-dong Church, on September 9, 2004. Its patron saint is the Holy Family (Holy Family) and its feast day is December 30, and its jurisdiction covers all of Gongneung 2-dong. The online directory of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea lists it under Jung-Seoul Region, Nowon District No. 5, date of establishment 2004.09.09, religious congregation Sisters Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, patron Holy Family, 3,679 faithful, and 0 mission chapels.

Related Places and People

• Gongneung-dong Church: It is the mother parish of Taereung Church.
• Taereung: The place mentioned on the parish introduction page as the neighborhood’s World Cultural Heritage.
• Father Thomas Aquinas Yu Domas: He is the 1 pastor.

References and Sources

1. Taereung Church, “History”. Purchase of the site and groundbreaking and ridge-raising, division and renaming, dedication of the church, successive pastors and associate pastors, ordinations.
   https://trsd.or.kr/history/
2. Taereung Church, “Church Introduction”. Process of establishment, patron saint Holy Family and feast day, mother parish, jurisdiction.
   https://trsd.or.kr/about/
3. Online directory of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, “Taereung”. Affiliated diocese and district, date of establishment 2004.09.09, religious congregation, patron, number of faithful.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/Catholic/DetailInfo.aspx?cgubn=c&char=all&code=201000236&gubn=4&gubn2=all&gyogu=201000011