Our Lady of Fatima of Moseulpo - Prayer and memory in Daejeong

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At the south-western end of Jeju, the parish of Moseulpo is entrusted to Our Lady of Fatima. The community serves the people of Daejeong and passively accompanies the historic place where the tomb of Jeong Nan-ju, Mary, one of the first permanent Catholic presence documented on the island.

Moseulpo and Daejeong: two related names

The international directory places the church in Daejeong-eup and identifies it by its advocation. The diocese of Jeju uses the parish name of Moseulpo, corresponding to the urban and harbour nucleus where the temple is located.

They're not two different churches. Moseulpo is the parish; Daejeong is the territorial unit and the name of the historical place that the parish attends.

The beginning of the community

The church of Moseulpo was concluded on 7 March 1954 and was initially left as a missionary station dependent on Seogwipo. The stable presence made it possible to bring together Catholics from the western part of the island.

On June 29, 1958, the station was raised to the parish. That same year, he promoted new chapels in Hwasun and Mureung, extending pastoral care throughout rural territory.

A church that grew with its chapels

The parish accompanied scattered communities and gradually improved their spaces. He built an educational building, renovated chapels and moved Mureung to a new compound in 2002.

In 2008, a redesign of the parish temple was completed. The continuity of these works shows a living community, not a simple historical point.

The Patron and her party

The diocese officially identifies Our Lady of Fatima as a patron and marks October 13 as a local feast, the date of the last apparition of 1917 recognized by the Church in Cova da Iria.

The title links this Korean parish to the universal call to conversion, prayer and peace. It doesn't mean there's been a Marian apparition in Moseulpo.

Jeong Nan@@

Jeong Nan-ju was sent to exile in Daejeong after the persecution of 1801. He was the wife of Hwang Sa-yeong, executed after the capture of his well-known letter, and belonged to a family closely linked to the early Korean Catholicism.

On the trip he was separated from his little son, destined for the island of Chuja. He lived in Jeju until his death in 1838. His grave is preserved in the historic place of Daejeong.

Memory of banishment and fidelity

The story of Jeong Nan-ju unites motherhood, separation, exile and perseverance. The parish has pastoral responsibility over the enclosure, but the fact sheet does not present it as a canonized saint or attribute undocumented miraculous facts.

His memory gives a local depth to prayer for separated families, especially on a peninsula whose recent history also contains borders and ruptures.

A path of pilgrimage

The Catholic route of Jeju connects the historic place of Daejeong with the church of Moseulpo. The tour allows us to move from the memory of exile to community celebration and Marian prayer.

The pilgrimage must be carried out with respect for the neighbours and for the ordinary activity of the parish. It is not a tourist visit disconnected from the religious sense of the place.

The Christian Message of Fatima

The Church receives Fatima as a call to return to God, pray, do penance and work for peace. Devotion does not add a new Gospel or allow the future to be calculated.

Benedict XVI stressed that the message is directed to human freedom and calls for conversion. Pope Francis presented Mary as a Mother who leads to Christ, not as a threatening figure or interested in fear.

Prayer for peace without fatalism

In Korea, Fatima acquires a particular resonance for the division of the peninsula. Prayer for peace does not replace human responsibility or make any political event an automatic fulfillment of a prophecy.

To pray the Rosary is to defend life, to care for the victims, to seek the truth and to build reconciliation with justice.

Mary leads to the Eucharist

Parish devotion finds its center in the liturgy and in Jesus Christ. Mary teaches to listen to the Word and leads the community to her Son.

The feast of October 13 and the Rosary help to renew this orientation; they do not replace the sacraments or the ordinary life of charity.

Verified location

The diocese offers the official direction in 22 Yeongseojung-ro, Hamo-ri. GCatholic records the territorial code 8Q5867C4+FFthe centre is 33.2211875, 126.2561875.

The exact mapping of the building provides 33.220903, 126.2562858, coordinate used on the map. The references correspond to the same parish area.

To visit and pray

Moseulpo is an active parish. It is appropriate to consult the diocesan times, to distinguish the temple from the nearby historical place of Daejeong and to travel both with sobriety. The party is on October 13.

They should not be spread as local facts supposed to be apparitions, prophecies or miracles that official sources do not attribute to this church.

Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima of Moseulpo

Our Lady of Fatima, keeps the parish of Moseulpo and the families of Daejeong. He receives the memory of Jeong Nan-ju, of his exile and of the separation of his son. Teach us to convert the heart, pray with perseverance and work for a peace based on truth and justice. Protect the divided families of Korea and always take us to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sources consulted

• Diocese of Jeju: official record of Moseulpo, patronage, party, history, direction and historical place.
• Diocese of Jeju: ecclesial chronology of the island.
• Diocese of Jeju: history of Jeong Nan-ju and first Catholic presence.
• The Catholic route of Jeju: itinerary between Daejeong and Moseulpo.
• GCatholic: identification of Our Lady of Fatima and territorial code.
• GCatholic: inventory of churches in the diocese of Jeju.
• Benedict XVI: A sense of conversion and responsibility in Fatima.
• Pope Francis: Mary of Fatima as Mother who leads to Christ.

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