Amidong Catholic Church

History & origins

Amidong Parish was established on January 30, 1998. As the residential and industrial areas around Bubal-eup in Icheon developed, the creation of an independent parish gave local Catholics a stable community in which Mass and the sacraments could be celebrated close to home. The parish chose Saint John Yi Mun-u as its patron, linking local Catholic life with the memory of Korea’s martyrs.

The parish grew around liturgy, formation, and community activity. Diocesan reporting indicates that by 2009 the community already numbered more than two thousand faithful, and in 2015 it organized a cultural festival that brought together photography, painting, calligraphy, ceramics, and music. Such activities show how the parish developed beyond a place of worship into a setting that organized relationships and participation among local Catholics.

In 2023 the parish celebrated the 25th anniversary of its foundation. As part of the commemoration, parishioners undertook a handwritten Bible project and Scripture meditation and then offered and displayed the completed work. Rather than simply marking the passage of years, the anniversary became an occasion to return to the Word and renew communal faith. The first quarter-century of Amidong Parish can thus be read as a movement from the founding of a new local community toward a more mature parish life centered on Scripture and participation. Choosing a parish-wide handwritten Bible project for the anniversary was distinctive because it connected historical remembrance with an action in which individual parishioners personally copied and meditated on Scripture. The commemoration therefore joined the shared time of the community with the concrete faith practice of each participant. This form of commemoration shows a development from the formation of the parish community to a quarter-century later emphasis on living the Word, demonstrating that parish history continues to serve present faith formation rather than remaining separate from it.