Siksa-dong Catholic Church

Overview

Siksadong Church is a church belonging to the Uijeongbu Diocese located on Wicity-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do. On September 14, 2010, it was newly established after separating from Pungdong Church, and its patron saint is St. Francis. After a period in a temporary church building, it celebrated its church dedication ceremony on January 25, 2015.

History

〔Establishment〕 The Siksadong Church website states that the parish was newly established after separating from Pungdong Church on September 14, 2010 (diocesan document No. 10-007), with 71 parishioners and 25 households at the time. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea directory also lists the establishment date as 2010.9.14. Fr. Joseph Lee Young-jae took office as the first pastor on September 28, 2010 and celebrated the first Mass for the establishment of the parish and his arrival on October 3, 2010 (tent Mass).

〔Temporary facilities period〕 On October 4, 2010, a temporary office was set up at Pungdong Church and Sunday Mass (at 9 in the morning) was celebrated, and from November 7, the first Mass was celebrated in Gippeumteo Hall in Siksa-dong. An office and a priest’s office were set up in containers, and the parish’s distinctive custom of “meal sharing after Mass” began at this time. The first building meeting was held on February 27, 2011, the groundbreaking for the temporary church building was held on October 2, and the 1 pastoral council was formed on November 25 (chair Joseph Bang Jae-ung). The first Sunday Mass in the temporary church building and the bishop’s visitation Mass were held on December 4, 2011. On January 1, 2012, 6 districts were reorganized into 9 districts, and the first Confirmation celebrated by Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon was held on September 8, 2012. The 2 pastoral council was formed on December 13, 2012 (chair Thomas Oh Han-geun).

〔Church building and dedication〕 The introductory page of the website states that the church building plan passed review by Goyang City on September 25, 2013 and that the groundbreaking Mass was held on November 17, while the church history records the passage of the review as November 11, 2013 and the groundbreaking Mass as November 17. The topping-out Mass for the church building was celebrated on May 18, 2014, and the 3 pastoral council was formed and held its first meeting on December 23, 2014 (the church history names Thomas Oh Han-geun as chair). The church dedication ceremony celebrated by Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon was held on January 25, 2015, and the chair of the 3 pastoral council was appointed on February 1, 2015 (Simeon Hong Seong-ho). Bishop Lee Ki-heon made a pastoral visit to the parish on June 3, 2015.

〔After 2015〕 Fr. Michael Kim Dong-hun took office as the 2 pastor on September 8, 2015, and later that year a Confirmation with 55 candidates celebrated by Bishop Lee Ki-heon was held on October 10. The parish feast day and 5 anniversary celebration was held on October 25, 2015, and an all-parishioners shrine pilgrimage (Beron Shrine in Jecheon) was made on October 3, 2016. The chair of the 4 pastoral council was appointed on April 2, 2017 (Thomas Aquinas Lee Young-hyeok), and a Confirmation with 58 candidates celebrated by Bishop Lee Ki-heon was held on May 21. An all-parishioners train pilgrimage to Nabawi Shrine was made on April 29, 2018, and Fr. Raymond Kim Oh-seok took office as collaborating priest on September 4. A Confirmation celebrated by Bishop Lee Ki-heon was held on January 20, 2019, and the chair of the 5 pastoral council was appointed on April 21 (Stephen Shin Hyeon-deok); by September that year, there were 2,966 parishioners in 1,020 households. On June 2, an all-parishioners DMZ pilgrimage for peace and reconciliation was made.

〔The 2020s〕 Fr. Peter Ahn Seung-gwan took office as the 3 pastor and Fr. Joseph Kim Hyeong-guk took office as associate pastor on February 17, 2020, and parish Masses were suspended due to COVID-19 on February 25 before parish video Masses began on March 15. A Mass commemorating the 10 anniversary of the parish’s establishment was celebrated on September 13, 2020. The Xi 2 71 district was newly established on January 24, 2021, and the 6 pastoral council was formed on April 4 (chair Matthias Hong Dae-hui). Associate Pastor Joseph Kim Hyeong-guk retired on February 6, 2022 and Fr. Peter Julian Choi Jung-bok took office as collaborating priest on February 13, and Fr. Choi Jung-bok retired on February 19, 2023 and Fr. Andrew Kim Min-cheol took office as collaborating priest on February 21. The clergy/religious page lists Fr. Claro Mun Hyeong-gyun as the 4 pastor (date of arrival 2024-02-21) and Fr. Matthias Kim Mun-sik as associate pastor (date of arrival 2025-02-18).

Architecture and Spaces

According to the introductory page of the website, the church is 3 stories in scale with a total floor area of 2,113.99㎡ (639.48 pyeong). Its address is 290-49 in Siksa-dong. As of February 28, 2022, there were 10 districts and 46 subdistricts, with 1,222 households and 3,219 members.

The church history records the groundbreaking for the temporary church building on October 2, 2011 and the first Sunday Mass in the temporary building on December 4, 2011, the groundbreaking Mass on November 17, 2013, the topping-out Mass on May 18, 2014, and the dedication ceremony on January 25, 2015. A candle blessing ceremony was held on February 2, 2019, and the first Marian devotion Mass on October 6, 2018 and the Sunday school joy feast at the parish Marian garden on October 20, 2018 are listed in the chronology.

Related Places and People

• Pungdong Church: the parish from which Siksadong Church was separated in 2010 (website introduction and chronology). Immediately after the separation, on October 4, 2010, a temporary office was set up at Pungdong Church and Sunday Mass was celebrated.
• Gippeumteo Hall: the hall where Siksadong Church celebrated its first Mass on November 7, 2010 (church history).
• St. Francis, the patron saint: the website introduces in chronological form that he was born in Assisi in 1182, that in 1209 Pope Innocent 3 gave oral approval to his evangelical way of life, that he received the stigmata on Mount La Verna on September 14, 1224, that he composed the “Canticle of the Sun” in 1225, and that he died at the Porziuncola convent on October 3, 1226.
• Successive priests: the 1 Joseph Lee Young-jae (took office in 2010), the 2 Michael Kim Dong-hun (took office in 2015), the 3 Peter Ahn Seung-gwan (took office in 2020), the 4 Claro Mun Hyeong-gyun (took office in 2024). As collaborating priests, Raymond Kim Oh-seok (2018), Peter Julian Choi Jung-bok (2022) and Andrew Kim Min-cheol (2023) are listed.

References and Sources

1. Catholic Siksadong Church website, Introduction. Date of establishment, location, patron saint, jurisdiction, church statistics, church area and biography for 2010–2022.
   http://sd.uca.or.kr/siksa/default.aspx?mnucd=20001782
2. Catholic Siksadong Church website, Church History. Chronology for 2010–2023 (separation and new establishment, arrival of first pastor, temporary church building, review, groundbreaking, topping-out and dedication of church building, pastoral councils, Confirmations).
   http://sd.uca.or.kr/siksa/default.aspx?mnucd=20001783
3. Catholic Siksadong Church website, Patron Saint. Chronology of the life of St. Francis.
   http://sd.uca.or.kr/siksa/default.aspx?mnucd=20001784
4. Catholic Siksadong Church website, Clergy/Religious. Arrival dates of successive pastors, associate pastors and collaborating priests.
   http://sd.uca.or.kr/siksa/default.aspx?mnucd=20001785
5. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Korean Catholic Directory (Uijeongbu Diocese parish list) “Siksadong”. Establishment date 2010.9.14., location.
   https://directory.cbck.or.kr/OnlineAddress/SearchList.aspx?cgubn=g&char=all&gubn=4&gubn2=all&gyogu=201000020&paged=100&sort=0&start=1&tbxSearch=