Sagang Catholic Church

Overview

Sagang Church is a church in Songsan-myeon, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, belonging to the Hwaseong District of the 1 Vicariate of the Suwon Diocese. Beginning around September 1951 as the Sagang Catholic mission chapel under Wangrim Parish, it was elevated from a Catholic mission chapel under Namyang Parish to a parish on October 13, 1975. Its patron is the Holy Family, and in January 1995 it separated Seosin Parish.

History

[Mission Chapel Period] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Catholicism had spread early around Mado-myeon, Songsan-myeon and Seosin-myeon, centered on this area, after Maria An came to live in Gomo-ri, Mado-myeon around 1892, but the Catholic community was extremely weak. Around September 1951, Father Im Jong-gu (Paul), the 9 pastor of Wangrim Parish, appointed Im Chun-seon, who lived in Bongga-ri, Songsan-myeon, as president of the mission chapel, establishing the Sagang Catholic mission chapel, and in 1955 they used the private house of Lee Gang-gyu (Francis) as the mission chapel hall. In 1959, they purchased a private house at the present parish site and remodeled it into a hall, and after its transfer to Namyang Parish on October 8, 1961, as the number of the faithful surged, they built a new 49-pyeong hall in August 1973. The Digital Hwaseong Cultural Encyclopedia also records that Sagang Church began in September 1951 as the ‘Sagang Mission Chapel’ belonging to Wangrim Church.

[Elevation to Parish] According to the encyclopedia, the faithful of the mission chapel prepared for elevation to parish status, purchasing 356 pyeong of land at the present church site on January 19, 1975, and on October 13 of that year it was elevated to a parish, with Father Yang Byeong-muk (Luke) appointed as the first pastor. Father Yang remodeled the mission chapel hall for use as a church while purchasing an additional 269 pyeong of land to secure 625 pyeong for the church grounds. The cultural encyclopedia records that on October 13, 1975 it was elevated from a mission chapel belonging to Namyang Church to the parish ‘Sagang Church,’ and that there were about 900 faithful at its founding. The encyclopedia’s figures for the Catholic community are 460 persons in 1975, 1,187 persons in 1981, 1,660 persons in 1986, 1,966 persons in 1990, 2,086 persons in 1993, and 1,293 persons in 1996.

[Construction of the Church and Mission Chapel Halls] According to the encyclopedia, the 2 pastor, Father Song Hyeon-seok (Mark), began new construction in August 1979 and completed a 245-pyeong church in April 1981. The cultural encyclopedia records that the church was blessed in 1982 with Bishop Angelo Kim Nam-su, then head of the Suwon Diocese, presiding. The 3 pastor, Father Jang Hak-su (Joseph), built halls for Sagot Mission Chapel (June 1985), Nonopi Mission Chapel (May 1986) and Jangoe-ri Mission Chapel (June 1988). The 4 pastor, Father Mun Byeong-hak (Joseph), received a donation of 462 pyeong of land at lot 592 in Baengmi-ri, Seosin-myeon in April 1991 and completed a men’s nursing home ‘Sagang Bogumjari’ (90 pyeong above ground, 24 pyeong basement) in March 1992, and as long-term management and responsibility became difficult, the nursing home, which had been operated by parishioners and volunteers, was transferred to the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul on October 20, 1994.

[Separation of Seosin Parish] According to the encyclopedia, the parish, which had planned division since the early 1980s, purchased 1,663 pyeong around lots 686-1 in Maehwa-ri, Seosin-myeon and 460 pyeong at lot 688 in April 1991 as the site for a new church, and under the 5 pastor, Father Yun Jae-ik (Bartholomew), purchased an additional 68 pyeong at lot 686-2, building a prefabricated temporary church (50 pyeong) in December 1994. On January 20 of the following year, it separated Seosin Parish, transferring the parish registers of 952 persons in 313 households. Although the Catholic community shrank with the division, the 7 pastor, Father Lee Sang-seon (Joachim), worked for the sanctification of families under the pastoral goal that ‘the sanctification of the family is evangelization.’

[Later Records] According to the cultural encyclopedia, it published the inaugural issue of the Sagang Church newsletter 《Solbaram》 in 1993, and on March 27, 2006 received a portion of the relics of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon from the Suwon Diocesan Office and enshrined them inside the church. As of 2020, there are 853 persons in 365 households, with 1 priests and 1 sisters, and the dispatched religious community is the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of Suwon. The church grounds measure 3,382㎡ in land area and 1,444㎡ in building area, and its affiliated groups include the Legion of Mary, Ultreya, Marian Association, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Association for the Deceased, St. Paul Apostolate and others. The cultural encyclopedia records that Sagang Church has jurisdiction over the entire Songsan-myeon area and part of Mado-myeon, and that its patrons are Saint Mary and Saint Joseph of the Holy Family.

[Successive Parish Priests] The successive priests recorded in the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia are the first Yang Byeong-muk Luke (1975.10–1978.7), 2 Song Hyeon-seok Mark (1978.7–1984.2), 3 Jang Hak-su Joseph (1984.2–1989.2), 4 Mun Byeong-hak Joseph (1989.2–1993.2), 5 Yun Jae-ik Bartholomew (1993.2–1995.2), 6 Seo Buk-won Peter (1995.2–1997.2), and 7 Lee Sang-seon Joachim (1997.2–).

Related Places and Figures

• Namyang Church: the parish to which the Sagang mission chapel was transferred on October 8, 1961 and which had jurisdiction over it until the elevation to Sagang Parish in 1975 (encyclopedia, cultural encyclopedia).
• Wangrim Parish: the parish that established the Sagang mission chapel in 1951 (encyclopedia).
• Seosin Church: the church separated from Sagang Parish on January 20, 1995 (encyclopedia).

References and Sources

1. Korean Church History Research Institute, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Sagang Parish”. Mission chapel period, elevation to parish in 1975, church construction, separation of Seosin Parish, Catholic community figures and successive priests.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/2835
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Hwaseong Cultural Encyclopedia “Sagang Church” (written by Jeong Jong-deuk). Founding and changes, blessing of the church, enshrinement of relics, current status.
   https://hwaseong.grandculture.net/hwaseong/toc/GC08600950