Shinnam Catholic Church

History & origins

신남 Parish began as a new parish of the Diocese of Suwon in June 2019, separating from Namyang Parish as pastoral needs grew in and around Namyang-eup, Hwaseong. The new community first established its own pastoral structure and then continued preparations for a permanent church of its own.

According to the diocesan chronology, the groundbreaking for the new Sinnam church took place on November 14, 2020. About a year and a half after the parish was created, the community thus entered the full construction stage. This period also coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, when ordinary Church activities were heavily restricted, yet the parish continued the process of preparing its permanent church.

The diocesan chronology records the parish’s move-in Mass on November 20, 2021. The sequence from establishment to groundbreaking and then to occupation of the new church took about two and a half years and marked the transition from a newly organized parish in temporary circumstances to a local community with its own church building.

Today, 신남 Parish carries the history of a relatively young community born from Namyang Parish. Its rapid development of an independent pastoral structure and a permanent church illustrates one way in which the Diocese of Suwon has reorganized parish life in response to population change and new residential patterns in western Hwaseong. Diocesan records place the establishment of the parish, the groundbreaking, and the move into the church in close succession. This shows the challenge faced by a newly erected parish that had to organize an independent community and secure its own church almost at the same time. After separation from Namyang Parish, the new parish began caring for its own territory and then proceeded to establish a church of its own as part of the same continuing process.