Bisandong Catholic Church

History & origins

Bisan-dong Parish was established on October 4, 1978, at a time when rapid urbanization and the growing number of Catholics in Anyang and neighboring areas created the need for new parish communities. From its beginning, the parish took St. Joseph the Worker as its patron. Its establishment coincided with a period of rapid change in the southern Seoul metropolitan area, when the growing Catholic population increasingly required pastoral communities smaller and closer than the existing parish structure could provide.

Soon after its establishment, Bisan-dong also had pastoral responsibility for Catholics in the Gwacheon area. The existing Catholic community there came under Bisan-dong in 1978 and was reorganized as one of its parish districts in 1979. As the new town of Gwacheon developed and the Catholic population grew, however, Gwacheon Parish was separated from Bisan-dong and formally established on March 4, 1982. This development shows Bisan-dong's role as a mother parish during a period of rapid Catholic growth in the southern Anyang area and adjoining communities. The incorporation and later separation of the Gwacheon community therefore show that Bisan-dong’s territory was not static; pastoral boundaries were adjusted as urban development and the distribution of Catholics changed.

In 2008, the parish marked the 30th anniversary of its establishment with a commemorative Mass, the unveiling of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and community events attended by former pastors, including the founding pastor. The anniversary affirmed that the community begun in 1978 had become a stable parish across generations. Bisan-dong has since continued its pastoral life as one of the established parishes of the Anyang 1 District. The thirtieth-anniversary celebration marked the parish’s continued stability as its own local community even after neighboring communities had become independent, and highlighted the passing of parish faith from one generation to the next.