Icheon Catholic Church

History & origins

The parish history of Icheon began with Icheon Mission Station under Yangji Parish. On July 4, 1941, the mission station was raised to parish status, and Father Mark Park Dong-heon became its first pastor. As Catholic communities in Icheon and the surrounding area grew, new parishes and pastoral centers were gradually separated from it. The diocesan record for the eightieth anniversary states that six parishes—Yeoju, Gwangju, Ganam, Ami-dong, Mojeon-dong, and Sindun—eventually emerged from Icheon Parish. This shows that Icheon served not merely as a central parish for one city but as a mother parish for a wider network of Catholic communities in southeastern Gyeonggi Province.

Diocesan records state that Icheon Parish gave rise to several parishes, including Ganam, Mojeon-dong, Sindun, and Ami-dong, and also contributed to the development of the Dannae Holy Family and Eonong shrines. Parish facilities changed with the size and pastoral needs of the community: an older church was built in 1959, while the present church was completed in 1993, alongside other additions and renovations over time. As older and newer churches accumulated their memories on the same site, changes in the buildings themselves became part of the record of parish growth. Its participation in the development of the Dannae Holy Family and Eonong shrines likewise shows that its pastoral influence extended beyond the immediate church property.

Around its eightieth anniversary, the parish carried out a “Re-start” project that reorganized both aging facilities and the community's historical memory. Beginning in 2020, deteriorated buildings were demolished or renovated, while objects such as the cross and artworks from the old church were reused in the renewed space. In March 2024, the parish blessed a History Hall presenting eighty years of parish history and the Pietà Plaza. By preserving older traces while creating new spaces, the project connected the parish's past with the faith life of future generations. The new eightieth-anniversary garden, bell and clock towers, and lowered walls point in the same direction. Rather than simply removing old facilities, the parish distinguished what memories should be preserved from what spaces needed renewal, using the project to prepare its pastoral environment for the journey toward the centenary.