Dae-hwa Catholic Church

Overview

Daehwa Church is a church in Daehwa-myeon, Pyeongchang County, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, belonging to the Wonju Diocese. On May 1931, the Daehwa Catholic mission chapel was separated and established as an independent parish, and after the church moved to Pyeongchang in 1965, it remained as a Catholic mission chapel before being re-established as a parish in 1993. Its patron is St. Therese of the Child Jesus, and 3 ceramic artists, painters, and sculptors participated in the interior decoration of the present church, construction of which began in 1996 and was completed in 1998.

History

[Mission Chapel Era] According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, in 1866, during the Byeongin Persecution, several Catholic families who had fled from the Suwon area gathered and settled in Pyeongchang. In the 1890s, Seonae, Hyanggyo-ri, Hail, Sanneomeo, Daehwa, Goindol (also called Goedori), Mulpure, and other places in Pyeongchang County were established as Catholic mission chapels under the jurisdiction of Pungsuwon Parish. Bishop Mutel visited this area in 1882, before his appointment as Vicar Apostolic of Joseon, and after becoming the head of the vicariate, from November 1900 14 to 23, he made a pastoral visit to the Catholic mission chapels in Pyeongchang County via Yongso-mak Parish in Wonju. These Catholic mission chapels became jurisdictional chapels of Wonju Parish in 1912, Gangneung Parish in 1921, and Jumunjin Parish in 1923.

[Parish Establishment] According to the encyclopedia, after Father Yun Ye-won (Thomas) was appointed to Daehwa-ri, Daehwa-myeon, Pyeongchang County in 1929, the Daehwa Catholic mission chapel was separated and established as an independent parish on May 1931, and the remaining Catholic mission chapels came under the jurisdiction of Daehwa Parish. The chronology in the Good News Archives’ “History of the Chuncheon Diocese (1791-1939)” also records the establishment of Daehwa Parish in Pyeongchang on May 1931 (patron: St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Wonju Diocese). Father Yun Ye-won ministered for a time in Silli, Daehwa, then remodeled a traditional Korean house in Sangdaehwa-ri for use as a church, but it was lost to fire, and in 1933 he purchased the former official residence of the public elementary school in Hadaehwa-ri and used it as a church.

[After the War and the Move to Pyeongchang] According to the encyclopedia, Daehwa Parish had its church destroyed and its faithful scattered in the Korean War of 6-25, and pastoral care was suspended. In 1954, Father Jo Eung-hwan (Thaddeus) was appointed and began restoration work, and the number of faithful grew again. On December 29, 1964, Father Jo Eung-hwan, with the permission of Father Stewart (T. Stewart, Park Thomas), then acting head of the Chuncheon Diocese, purchased 762 pyeong at the former tax office site at lot 355-5, Jung-ri, Pyeongchang-eup, and the following year, on October, when Father Murray (B. Murray, Ham) was appointed to Pyeongchang, the church was moved from Daehwa to Pyeongchang, and Daehwa Parish became a Catholic mission chapel under the jurisdiction of Pyeongchang Parish. On May 1, 1969, Pyeongchang County was transferred from the Chuncheon Diocese to the Wonju Diocese.

[Re-establishment] According to the encyclopedia, on March 27, 1973, 338 pyeong of land at the present site was purchased, and a main building with 61 pyeong of floor space and annex buildings with block and slate roofs were newly built. The Daehwa Catholic mission chapel, which had long been under the jurisdiction of Pyeongchang Parish, was re-established as a parish in 1993. As the Wonju Diocese closed Sangdong Parish in Yeongwol, which had become unable to function as a parish due to changes in the local community, incorporating its jurisdictional area into Hwangji Parish, it decided to establish a new parish instead, and the Daehwa Catholic mission chapel was separated from Pyeongchang Parish and re-established as a parish. As there was no rectory, a rented apartment was being used, and efforts were being made to build a new rectory, education hall, and church. Lay organizations included 2 Legion of Mary groups, the Seongu Association, the Marian Association, the Hasang Association, and others.

[Church Statistics and Successive Pastors] The church statistics recorded in the encyclopedia are 437 faithful in 1937, 900 faithful in 1964, and 367 faithful in 1993. The jurisdictional area was Daehwa-myeon and Bangnim-myeon. The successive priests were the first, Thomas Yun Ye-won (1929-1953), the 2th, Stefano Baek Eung-bok (1953-1954), the 3th, Thaddeus Jo Eung-hwan (1954-1964), and the 4th, Peter Yu Yeong-gu (1993. 3-).

[Construction of the Present Church] According to a Kyunghyang Shinmun article dated April 21, 2002, Daehwa Church became a Catholic mission chapel after its establishment in 1931 as the number of faithful declined due to rural migration, and was raised again to a parish in 1993; the old church building was built of blocks, leaked in summer, and had no heating, making it difficult even to celebrate Mass in winter. About 150 faithful collected funds for nearly 15 years to build a church, but with weekly offerings of about 10 ten thousand won, they could hardly cover even one summer’s repair costs. Father Hwang In-chan, appointed in 1996, visited churches in Seoul appealing for help, elderly faithful sold wild greens, honey, fermented soybean blocks, eggs, and other goods to add to construction costs, and faithful and non-believers from other areas also contributed to the building fund. The artists participated receiving only material costs. The article reports that, in gratitude, Daehwa Church has opened the “Little Flower Retreat House” where anyone, regardless of religion, may stay. In a Busan Ilbo article dated May 18, 2006, a parishioner recalls that, as the parish moved to the seat of the Pyeongchang County Office, Daehwa Church remained as a Catholic mission chapel for a time before being raised to a parish in 1993, and that while parishioners gathered wild greens to raise new construction funds, donations from outside the area were collected.

Architecture and Space

Kyunghyang Shinmun (2002) reports that Daehwa Church began construction in 1996 and was completed in 1998, with 3 ceramic artists, sculptors, and painters participating in decorating the church interior. Busan Ilbo (2006) also writes that ceramic artist Byeon Seung-hun, painter Kim Nam-yong, and sculptor Han Jin-seop led the production of sacred artworks, and that the present appearance was completed in 1998.

[Exterior and Layout] Kyunghyang Shinmun describes the church as a low brick building lying close to the ground, without a pointed spire or massive bell tower, with an entrance door featuring a repeated pattern of rounded crosses. According to Busan Ilbo, the yellow bronze signboard evoking a roadside village guardian post or pole was made by sculptor Seo Bo-won, and there are a red brick wall about chest-high to an adult and a white iron main gate lower than the wall (a work by sculptor Choi Tae-hun). Seen from the main gate, the buildings stand in order from the left: the office, the “Little Flower Retreat House,” the rectory, and the church, and the total size including the courtyard is about 300 pyeong.

[Ceramic Wall] Both articles explain that ceramic artist Byeon Seung-hun fired buncheong stoneware slabs, broke them into pieces, and attached them to the walls to make the interior walls. For the number of slabs, Kyunghyang Shinmun gives over 2,200 slabs, while Busan Ilbo differently gives 2 thousand 300 slabs fired from 7 tons of clay. According to Kyunghyang Shinmun, conception, sketching, and attaching the ceramic pieces took 1 years, and Byeon Seung-hun’s students and parishioners worked together for over 3 months, with elderly parishioners taking charge of the tiles on the lower part and young people the upper part. The theme of the mosaic mural at the rear of the chapel is “The Three Crosses on the Hill of Golgotha (Golgotha),” with the large central cross symbolizing Jesus and the crosses on either side symbolizing the 2 criminals executed with him. Busan Ilbo writes that the rear wall mixes various colors, but the front wall is only white to increase the concentration of the faithful. Kyunghyang Shinmun reports that the altar was installed low, at eye level of the faithful in the pews, to reduce the overawing atmosphere of the church.

[Altar and Sacred Objects] The crucifix, altar, ambo, and tabernacle made and donated by sculptor Han Jin-seop are placed on the sanctuary. Kyunghyang Shinmun describes the material of these sacred objects as violet marble, while Busan Ilbo differently describes it as reddish granite. According to Busan Ilbo, the crucifix is placed slightly to the right rather than at the center of the altar, and the figure of Jesus in the Stations of the Cross (14 stations) made of black granite has no facial features. Kyunghyang Shinmun writes that the 14 Stations are hung between the stained glass windows. For the holy water font, Kyunghyang Shinmun describes it as granite, while Busan Ilbo describes it as a white marble holy water font encountered at the entrance. The statue of the Virgin Mary outside the church is also Han Jin-seop’s work, with the face carved in a circular form, and according to Kyunghyang Shinmun, it is called the “100m beauty” among parishioners. The bronze cross on the roof is in the form of 4 small crosses joined together, weighs over 600kg, and symbolizes Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who wrote the 4 Gospels (Kyunghyang Shinmun).

[Stained Glass] Kyunghyang Shinmun writes that the stained glass, in which Western-style painter Kim Nam-yong participated, uses low-saturation brown, blue, and green to match the ceramic walls and is decorated with polygons and curves. Busan Ilbo writes that this glass painting is titled “The Holy Spirit Filling the Whole World” and contains light sky-blue and light green polygons.

Related Places and People

• Pungsuwon Parish: The parish to which Catholic mission chapels in Pyeongchang County, including Daehwa, first belonged as jurisdictional chapels in the 1890s (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Pyeongchang Parish: The parish under whose jurisdiction Daehwa Parish became a Catholic mission chapel when the church moved to Pyeongchang-eup in 1965, and from which the Daehwa Catholic mission chapel was separated and re-established as a parish in 1993 (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Yeongwol Sangdong Parish: The parish that the Wonju Diocese closed in 1993, incorporating its jurisdictional area into Hwangji Parish, with Daehwa Parish re-established instead (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Little Flower Retreat House: Lodging opened by Daehwa Church to those who visit regardless of religion (Kyunghyang Shinmun, Busan Ilbo).

References and Sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Daehwa Parish”. Mission chapel era, parish establishment and closure in 1931, re-establishment in 1993, church statistics and successive priests.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/1329
2. Good News Archives, “The 80 Years of the Chuncheon Diocese as Seen in Records 63: History of the Chuncheon Diocese (1791-1939)”. Chronology of the establishment of Daehwa Parish in Pyeongchang on May 1931 (patron: St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Wonju Diocese).
   https://home.catholic.or.kr/pdsm/bbs_view.asp?Page=36&id=178677&menu=4817&num=705
3. Kyunghyang Shinmun, “‘Embracing Lowly Lives, Quietly Lying Low’ Daehwa Church in Pyeongchang” (posted on April 21, 2002). Construction in 1996-1998, process of raising construction funds, interior decoration and sacred objects.
   https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200204211624551
4. Busan Ilbo, “[Rest for My Soul] ③ Beautiful Church, Daehwa Church in Gangwon” (posted on May 18, 2006). Sacred art makers and works, exterior and layout, parish elevation process.
   https://www.busan.com/view/busan/view.php?code=20060518000147