Uirim-dong Church

History & origins

During the 1960s, Jecheon grew as a transportation and urban center, and its Catholic population also increased, creating a need to divide the pastoral territory of the existing Jecheon parish. Construction of a new church in Uirim-dong began in May 1964, and on August 20 of that year Bishop James Vincent Pardy of Cheongju approved the establishment of Uirim-dong as Jecheon's second parish. A contemporary report stated that 1,175 Catholics from the existing Jecheon parish would belong to the new parish.

Construction continued, and on July 7, 1965, the completed church was dedicated in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Daniel Tji Hak-soun. A later entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia of Korea gives January 1, 1965 as the date on which the parish was separated and established, which differs from August 20, 1964 recorded by the current Catholic directory and the contemporary 1964 Catholic Times report. This account therefore treats August 20, 1964, supported by both the contemporary report and the current directory, as the date of approval for the parish's establishment, while distinguishing 1965 as the period in which the church was completed and dedicated.

Uirim-dong Parish began under the Diocese of Cheongju. Following discussions by the Korean bishops in 1968, pastoral responsibility for Namcheon-dong, Uirim-dong, and Danyang parishes was transferred to the Diocese of Wonju that November, and the adjustment was formally announced by a decree of the Holy See on May 1, 1969. As the Catholic population of Jecheon changed, Seobu-dong Parish was separated in 1980 and Cheongjeon-dong Parish in 1990, bringing further boundary adjustments. This sequence of parish divisions shows the role Uirim-dong played in the growth of the Catholic Church in the Jecheon area.