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About this place
Baran Catholic Church is a parish of the Hwaseong District in the First Vicariate of the Diocese of Suwon and serves as a district-center parish. The Korean Catholic Directory records St. Francis Xavier as its patron. It is a place where Catholics in Hyangnam-eup and the wider Baran area celebrate Mass and the sacraments and continue catechesis and parish life, bringing together the older Catholic tradition of the Hwaseong area and the life of the present-day community.
The present church stands on a broad site and is known for a roof form that interprets traditional Korean curves together with Catholic symbolism. A Catholic Times history of the parish explains that the roof evokes the curves of white porcelain and tiled roofs while also symbolizing the traditional gat worn by St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon. This architectural character is one reason the church is recognized as a distinctive religious landmark in Baran.
The meaning of the parish has not been confined to liturgy inside the church. A long tradition of sharing its space with local residents and participating in rural and cooperative initiatives has shaped its character. Visitors can therefore understand Baran Catholic Church both as an established Catholic parish in the Hwaseong area and as a place where faith and local society have met over a long period of time.
History & origins
The history of the parish in Baran is connected with older Catholic villages in the Hwaseong area. According to a Catholic Times history of the parish, Catholic communities had formed in places such as Yanggan, Neujiji, and Gatdeungi by the 1820s and 1830s. After Wangnim Parish was established on the basis of the Gatdeungi Catholic village, the need grew for another parish to care for the many mission stations spread across Hwaseong. Fr. Im Eung-seung, pastor of Wangnim Parish, chose Baran, a transportation center, as a new base and worked with mission-station Catholics to build a church.
The church building was completed in 1956 through the offerings and volunteer labor of the faithful, and Baran Parish was formally established on June 14, 1957. From its early years the parish possessed a large tract of land and became closely involved with rural life. It operated the Vianney Farm on church property and took part in farmer education and the spread of sericulture techniques, showing how the Catholic community engaged with agriculture and improvements in local life.
This local cooperation extended to economic life. In 1976, the parish community helped launch the 'Honeybee Credit Cooperative,' which developed into today's Baran Credit Union. In 1986, the parish also pursued a plan to develop Yodang-ri as a shrine preserving the birthplace of St. Joseph Jang Ju-gi and the memory of the old Catholic village. The plan was halted because of financial limitations, but it shows the parish's concern for preserving the Catholic heritage of the area.
A new church was eventually built to replace the older one and was dedicated in July 2005. Its roof combines traditional curves recalling white porcelain and tiled roofs with an image associated with the gat of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon. The history of Baran Parish can thus be read as the process by which faith inherited from Catholic villages took root in local society through the establishment of a parish, rural initiatives, cooperative activity, and the building of a new church.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Bal-an Catholic Church: history and architecture
Read about the place's history, architecture, people, and events in the Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia articles are currently available in Korean.
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- Francisco Diary
Diocese
Suwon Diocese (Diocese of Suwon)
Official website: http://www.casuwon.or.kr
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