Weekly Mass Schedule
Korean
Select a Mass time to view sources or report a change.
About this place
Cheolli Catholic Church is a parish of the Cheoin District in the First Vicariate of the Diocese of Suwon and has St. Joseph, Model of Workers, as its patron. It serves Catholics in Cheolli and the surrounding area of Idong-eup, Yongin, as the place where they celebrate Mass and the sacraments and continue catechesis and community life. In a region where memories of long-established Catholic villages remain, the parish also has the role of handing the faith on to the next generation. The spirituality of St. Joseph—work and faithfulness—naturally resonates with a parish whose setting has long brought together rural life and everyday labor.
Cheolli Parish is also significant for its care of the Catholic heritage surrounding the parish church. According to diocesan sources, it administers the Handeokgol Martyrdom Historic Site, while the parish’s historical record describes its preservation of the tomb of St. John Yi Yun-il and memories of nearby Catholic villages. Cheolli Catholic Church therefore links present parish life with traces of Catholic communities from the persecution era and offers an important point from which visitors can understand the continuity of Catholic faith in the Yongin area. The fact that parish liturgical life and the memory of shrines and historic sites remain connected within the same locality also shows that Cheolli is not simply a modern parish but a link in a regional history of faith extending back to the persecution period.
History & origins
From the persecution era onward, a number of Catholic villages—including Handeokgol, Meokbang-i, Byeongmokgol, and Sariti—were formed around the Cheolli area of Yongin, sustaining the continuity of the faith. Handeokgol preserves memories connected with the family of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon and the family of Fr. Thomas Choe Yang-eop, while Meokbang-i is associated with the family of St. John Yi Yun-il. Against this background, efforts to establish a church in Cheolli appeared by the late nineteenth century. In 1896, Fr. Kang Do-yeong attempted to establish a church in Cheolli before Mirinae, but local circumstances prevented the plan from being realized.
For a long time the community was too poor to secure a mission-station building, but the period after the Korean War brought a new opportunity. Relief goods sent by Catholics in the United States and local assistance were converted into a building fund, and the church building was completed in August 1957. In 1960 the mission station was elevated to parish status, but after the second pastor was transferred in 1964 it once again became a mission station under Yongin Parish.
Even after losing parish status, the community continued its Catholic life for more than three decades. In 1997, after thirty-three years as a mission station, a resident priest returned and the parish community was reestablished; the current Korean Catholic Directory records February 14, 1997, as the establishment date of the present parish. A new church was later built and dedicated in 2000, while the church erected in the 1950s was used for catechetical purposes.
After reestablishment, the parish continued to care for the Catholic heritage of the surrounding area. By maintaining the Handeokgol Martyrdom Historic Site, the tomb of St. John Yi Yun-il, and memories of the old Catholic villages, it connects small communities of the persecution era with today’s parish. The history of Cheolli Parish can therefore be understood as a history in which local Catholics preserved and handed on the faith despite repeated institutional changes between mission-station and parish status.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Start the first record for Cheonri Catholic Church
No public encyclopedia article is available for this place yet. Help document its Catholic history and stories with verifiable sources.
Encyclopedia articles are currently available in Korean.
Would you like to record this place in your pilgrimage passport?
Sign in to keep this record with you.
Accessibility information
Accessibility information is not available yet. Please check with the location before visiting.
Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Diocese source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
- Last updated
- Source
- Francisco Diary
Diocese
Suwon Diocese (Diocese of Suwon)
Official website: http://www.casuwon.or.kr
Help verify information
Did the Mass schedule or church information change?
Let us know if you confirmed the displayed information or noticed something different.
Information Status: Official source
Visited here? Share details about toilets, parking or ramps.
Sign in to leave a visitor check.
Sign in to confirm the schedule or report a change.
Reports are saved for review. Mass times are changed after evidence such as official sources is checked, not automatically based on visitor confirmations.