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About this place
Buksu-dong Catholic Church is a parish in the Paldal–Jangan District of the First Vicariate of the Diocese of Suwon and at the same time the central church of the Suwon Hwaseong Martyrs’ Shrine. Located in central Suwon near Hwaseong Haenggung, it has St. Michael the Archangel as its patron saint and serves both the ordinary sacramental life of local Catholics and the pilgrimage ministry that remembers the faith of the martyrs. The overlap of these two identities—a parish and a shrine—is essential to understanding the place.
Around the church are historical traces of Suwon Hwaseong connected with the arrest, interrogation, and punishment of Catholics during the persecutions of the late Joseon period, and the parish carries this memory forward through devotion to the martyrs and pilgrimage. At the same time, it remains a living neighborhood parish where generations of local Catholics celebrate Mass, learn the faith, and hand it on. The parish’s own introduction emphasizes that it was one of the early centers of Catholic life in the Suwon area and presents the history of martyrdom and ordinary parish life as inseparable. Pilgrims encounter the historical memory of the site, while local parishioners continue their daily liturgical life in the same place. Buksu-dong is therefore best understood not simply as an old church building, but as a place where the everyday life of a parish and the memory of martyrdom remain intertwined.
History & origins
The roots of Buksu-dong Parish go back to 1890, when the community began as a mission station under Wangnim Parish. In 1897, land and a traditional Korean house were obtained for missionary work in Suwon and were used for Hwayang School and the mission-station hall. On this foundation, “Suwon Parish” was formally established on November 23, 1923, and Fr. Louis Lemaire of the Paris Foreign Missions Society became its first pastor. The establishment of an independent parish in the city of Suwon became an important starting point for the later expansion of Catholic communities in the area.
On November 13, 1932, the fourth pastor, Fr. Désiré Polly, built a Gothic-style church of about 248 square meters. The Diocese of Suwon records it as Suwon’s first Gothic-style building. In 1934, Sohwa Academic Institute was established beside the church, an educational institution that developed into today’s Sohwa Elementary School. The parish thus left a mark not only through worship but also through education.
As the number of Catholics and the pastoral territory expanded, new parishes were separated from it. When Godeung-dong Parish was established in 1959, the name of the community changed from Suwon Parish to Buksu-dong Parish. It later served as a mother parish in the formation of surrounding parishes including Jidong, Jowon-dong, Maegyo-dong, and Dong-Suwon. The old Gothic church was demolished in 1978, and the present church was newly built and dedicated on April 5, 1979.
The historical significance of the site was formally recognized again on September 20, 2000, when the Diocese of Suwon designated the church and its surroundings as a martyrs’ shrine. In 2023, a Mass was celebrated for the centenary of the parish’s establishment. Its development from a mission station to Suwon’s first parish, its role in giving rise to other parishes, and its later identity as a shrine preserving the memory of martyrdom are all layered together in the Buksu-dong Catholic Church of today.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Buksu-dong Catholic Church: history and architecture
Read about the place's history, architecture, people, and events in the Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia.
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Diocese
Suwon Diocese (Diocese of Suwon)
Official website: http://www.casuwon.or.kr
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