Taejang-dong Catholic Church

Overview

Taejang-dong Church is a church in Taejang-dong, Wonju-si, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, belonging to the Diocese of Wonju. It was established on September 10, 1981, separated from Hakseong-dong Parish, and its patron is the 103 Korean martyr saints. The church building, completed and blessed on November 9, 1983, was built as a memorial church for the 200th anniversary of the Korean Catholic Church, in accordance with a decision of the general assembly of priests of the Diocese of Wonju.

History

〔Founding background〕 According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, the Taejang-dong area was under the jurisdiction of Hakseong-dong Parish, but because it was far from the parish, believers there often went to attend Sunday Mass at the chapel attached to the nearby military hospital, an evacuation hospital. Assistant priest Kim Jin-hyeong, whose baptismal name is John the Baptist, of Hakseong-dong Parish proposed providing a meeting place in Taejang-dong, and believers living in Taejang-dong, centered on the Cross Association, president Ok Won-ho, set out to provide a chapel. They rented the 2th floor of an above-ground building at Taejang-2-dong lot 1244-3 and began Sunday Mass and catechism classes in July 1981. When the diocese formed a plan to establish a parish in the neighboring Usan-dong, members of the Cross Association petitioned the diocesan office, and as a result a parish was established in Taejang-dong instead of Usan-dong.

〔Parish establishment〕 The Taejang Parish entry of the encyclopedia gives the date of parish establishment as September 10, 1981, and the Hakseong-dong Parish entry states that the Taejang, Gahyeon, Yeongsan and Gonuigol Catholic mission chapels, newly created in September 1981, were transferred to Taejang-dong Parish. The history of the Catholic Diocese of Wonju, for the 1980s, also records the new establishment of Taejang-dong Parish on September 10, 1981. The first pastor was Father Bae Eun-ha, whose baptismal name is Thaddeus.

〔Construction of the church building〕 According to the encyclopedia, while still using a rented church, the first pastor, Father Bae Eun-ha, formed a committee to promote construction of a church building in March 1982 and, with help from the diocesan office, purchased 1,183.47 square meters in September out of the present church site. He broke ground in May 1983 for a church with a total floor area of 839.66 square meters, including 347 square meters for the church, 82.64 square meters for the hall, 92.56 square meters for catechesis rooms and others, and completed and blessed it on November 9 of the same year. Before that, in January 1983, the general assembly of priests of the Diocese of Wonju decided to build the church building of Taejang-dong Parish as a memorial church for the 200th anniversary of the Korean Catholic Church, and all parishes in the diocese agreed to help with the construction. Of the total construction cost of 2 hundred million won, the remainder after subtracting the parish’s own collection of 2,140 ten thousand won was raised through donations from parishes inside and outside the diocese. In February 1984 part of a catechesis room was remodeled for use as a convent, and in May a statue of the Virgin Mary was unveiled.

〔Later projects〕 According to the encyclopedia, after the 2 pastor, Father Baek Seung-chi, took office, a committee was formed in February 1987 to purchase the lot in front of the church, 710.74 square meters, and the old Gonuigol Catholic mission chapel building began repairs in November 1987 and was completed in February 1988. The 4 pastor, Father Kim Jong-tae, conducted a campaign to offer 5 ten thousand decades of Rosary prayers on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of parish establishment on May 7, 1991, and on May 28 of the same year there was the unveiling and blessing ceremony for the statue of the Virgin Mary at the Socho Catholic mission chapel. Father Kim Jong-tae published the “10-Year History of Taejang Parish” in December 1991 and established the Queen of Korean Martyrs Curia in January 1992.

The 5 pastor, Father Lee Yeong-seop, held a blessing ceremony for the Marian grotto at the Gonuigol Catholic mission chapel in May 1993, repaired the hall of the Socho Catholic mission chapel in April 1994 and held a blessing ceremony in May, and in October of the same year had Sunday school children visit Kkotdongne and held a hiking competition by family. The 6 pastor, Father Park Heung-jun, purchased a house in front of the church, with a site of 106 pyeong and a building area of 43.37 pyeong, remodeled it as a convent, and held a blessing ceremony on June 11, 1995. Father Lee Hak-geun, who had been the 3 pastor and then returned as the 8 pastor, held a parish fishing competition in October 1997, held a pilgrimage to shrines including Mirinae and Cheonjinam in June 2000, and broke ground for a new education center in October and held a blessing ceremony in May 2001.

Shortly after the 9 pastor, Father Kim Han-gi, took office, the parishioners’ telephone directory was revised and published in March 2003, and in October a parish unity festival was held. Two Lenten special lectures were held in March 2004, and a parish website was opened in July. The Daegeon Association, a group of young and middle-aged adults, regularly visits every month the Jangjugi Joseph Rehabilitation Center, a facility for persons with disabilities, to volunteer, and the encyclopedia states that the parish opened counseling services and Korean-language classes for growing numbers of foreign workers and newly established an English Mass.

〔Jurisdiction and statistics〕 The jurisdictional area recorded by the encyclopedia is all of Taejang-2-dong and Gahyeon-dong and parts of Hojeo-myeon and Socho-myeon, and the Catholic mission chapels under its jurisdiction are 2 in number, at Gonuigol and Yeongsan. The statistics are 980 persons in 1981, 1,195 persons in 1987, 1,704 persons in 1992, 2,034 persons in 1995, 2,594 persons in 1999, and 2,404 persons in 2003. Successive pastors are the first, Bae Eun-ha Thaddeus (1981. 9–1985. 7), the 2, Baek Seung-chi John (1985. 7–1988. 2), the 3, Lee Hak-geun Benedict (1988. 2–9), the 4, Kim Jong-tae Andrew (1988. 9–1992. 1), the 5, Lee Yeong-seop Francis (1992. 1–1995. 1), the 6, Park Heung-jun Joachim (1995. 2–10), the 7, Park Ho-yeong Benedict (1995. 10–1996. 2), the 8, Lee Hak-geun Benedict (1996. 2–2003. 1), and the 9, Kim Han-gi Simon (2003. 2–).

Related places and people

• Hakseong-dong Parish: the mother parish from which Taejang-dong Parish was separated, and Assistant Priest Kim Jin-hyeong proposed providing a meeting place in Taejang-dong (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).
• Usan-dong: the neighboring area where the diocese first planned to establish a parish. Usan-dong Parish was later newly established on February 1995, separated from Hakseong-dong Parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Hakseong-dong Parish entry).
• Gonuigol Catholic mission chapel, Yeongsan Catholic mission chapel and Socho Catholic mission chapel: Catholic mission chapels related to Taejang-dong Parish (Korean Catholic Encyclopedia).

References and sources

1. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Taejang-dong Parish”. Founding background, church blessing in 1983 and decision on the 200th anniversary memorial church, later projects, statistics and successive pastors.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/6303
2. Research Institute of Korean Church History, Korean Catholic Encyclopedia “Hakseong-dong Parish”. Transfer in September 1981 of the Taejang, Gahyeon, Yeongsan and Gonuigol Catholic mission chapels to Taejang-dong Parish, and new establishment of Usan-dong Parish.
   https://encyclopedia.catholic.or.kr/entry/6717
3. Catholic Diocese of Wonju, diocesan history, 1980s. New establishment of Taejang-dong Parish on September 10, 1981.
   http://www.wjcatholic.or.kr/company/history?y=1980