Our Lady of the Poor of Jangnim - Bannux with the elders and workers of Busan

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In the industrial and harbour district of Saha, west of Busan, the parish of Jangnim invokes Mary with the title she gave in Bannux: the Virgin of the Poor. The community was born without its own building and learned from the beginning that the Church first rises with people who pray, share and persevere.

The patronage is documented

The Episcopal Conference of Korea records The Holy SpiritOur Lady of Bannux, as patron of Jangnim. The episcopal record confirms date, direction and jurisdiction.

Within the temple there is an image of Bannux next to the presbytery. The presence of this image manifests patronage, but does not turn the parish into a new apparition.

Banneux en 1933

Between 15 January and 2 March 1933, Mariette Beco, an 11-year-old girl, claimed to have seen the Virgin eight times near the family house in Bannux, diocese of Liège.

The family lived with little resources. The place, winter and simplicity of the seer are part of the context, but poverty must not be broken or presented as a desirable condition.

"I am the Virgin of the Poor"

The central expression of Bannux does not classify people as inferior. It reveals a special closeness to those who suffer from lack, disease, contempt or neglect.

In 2024, Pope Francis recalled this title and called on the whole Church to be friends with the poor following Jesus, in solidarity with the latter.

The source for all nations

According to the recognized account, Mary led Mariette to a source and stated that she was reserved for all nations and to relieve the sick.

Water should not be used as a substitute for medical care or be automatically attributed to healing. The message itself guides Christ, a source of life, comfort and hope.

Ecclesial recognition

On August 22, 1949, Bishop Louis- Joseph Kerkhofs finally recognized the reality of the apparitions. John Paul II recalled that decision on the fiftieth anniversary and had celebrated the Eucharist in the sanctuary in 1985.

Recognition does not force any Catholic to base his faith on private revelation. The Gospel and the sacraments remain the center.

A message before another war

The apparitions occurred when Europe was going through a deep crisis and Nazism came to power in neighbouring Germany. John Paul II presented Mary in Bannux as a messenger of peace.

Peace requires more than good wishes: it needs to defend dignity, responsible education, memory and attention to those who bear the weight of political decisions.

Jangnim nace sin templo

The diocese of Busan created the parish 18 February 1998 with faithful from Hadan, Goejeong, Saha and Dadae. The first mass was held in the open air because the community did not yet have a church.

He then used a provisional construction and later rented the second floor of a commercial building. The mobility of these early years recalls that a parish is community rather than building.

Prayer and work to build

The parishioners held chains of prayer and organized activities to raise funds. The construction was not the result of a single benefactor, but of shared efforts for several years.

A community dedicated to the Virgin of the Poor should ensure that the material work did not hide the needs of the families themselves. History retains the memory of that collective perseverance.

The church dedicated in 2001

The new temple was dedicated to 10 November 2001 by the bishop of Busan, with the presence of around seven hundred parishioners and neighbors.

The compound was raised on a ground of 732 pyeong and was 663 pyeong built. It included church, living room, offices, catechesis rooms, kitchen, pastoral homes, religious spaces, choir and classrooms.

A building for multiple forms of encounter

The distribution shows that the project was not limited to a liturgical space. Walls, kitchen and living room allowed for training, coexistence and community care.

The temple must remain an instrument of mission. Its value is measured not only by size or beauty, but by the welcome it makes possible.

The imagen of Banneux junto al al altar

The image of the pattern is on the side of the presbytery, accompanied by glass windows that fill the clear wall with color. It is a visible point of reference for community prayer.

The veneration is addressed to the person represented and, through Mary, to Christ. The statue is not a magical object or a separate presence of sacramental life.

The Silver School of Nazareth

A parish school for the elderly began in September 2003. Eleven years later, he brought together about fifty women weekly and offered biblical training, study of the lives of saints, literacy, exercise and manual activities.

The mobility and cognitive stimulation programmes met the real needs of ageing. The community combined prayer, learning, health and friendship.

Ageing with dignity and company

Old age is not just a stage of dependence. The elderly retain memory, experience, capacity for prayer, creativity and community responsibility.

A parish of the Virgin of the Poor must combat loneliness, abandonment and condescension, allowing the elderly to be participants and not mere recipients.

Learn to read in maturity

The school came to offer literacy classes. Learning to read or write as an adult requires courage and an environment where no one is humiliated.

Literacy facilitates autonomy, access to information, personal prayer and family communication. It is a concrete way to return opportunities to those deprived of education.

Physical activity and prevention

Yoga, gymnastics and manual works were incorporated to promote flexibility, coexistence and cognitive stimulation. These activities must be adapted to the health of each person and do not replace professional evaluation.

Comprehensive pastoral care respects body, mind, relationships and spirit.

A long gesture of donation

In 2021, the diocese reported that a parishioner from Jangnim delivered 208 blood donation certificates gathered for more than thirty years. The gesture transformed a sustained practice into help available to other people.

The donation of blood should always be carried out according to health criteria, voluntary and protection of donors and recipients.

Workers, port and urban transformation

Jangnim is part of Saha, an industrial area, residential neighborhoods and connection to the port. Many families live in demanding working rhythms and economic changes.

The Virgin of the Poor invites those who suffer from precarious work, migration, occupational illness, unsafe housing or isolation, without reducing the entire neighborhood to a single social reality.

The proximity to the port of Jangnim

The nearby port has been renovated as a cultural and maritime space. Behind its tourist image remains a history of fishing, industry, work and environmental transformation.

Urban beauty is a good when living with ecosystem protection and decent conditions for those who work and reside in the environment.

Poverty has many faces

John Paul II recalled in Bannux that there are many ways of being poor. In addition to lack of income, there is disease, mourning, loneliness, educational exclusion, migration and lack of links.

The Christian community must not decide from a distance what each person needs. First listen, then accompany and cooperate with competent services.

verified location for the map

The episcopal directory places the temple in 62 Hasinjunang@@. The mapping search by the Korean name and the city returns 35.084175, 128.9718205, coinciding with the parish building.

The marker has not been placed in the port, in the metro station or in the generic center of Jangnim-dong.

Do not confuse the Korean parishes of Bannux

Korea has several communities dedicated to the Virgin of the Poor, including Danggam in Busan and Guryongpo in Pohang. This fact sheet corresponds only to Jangnim Catholic Church.

Direction, date, diocese and coordinates guarantee their own identity without duplicating the Bannux general dose.

To visit and pray

Jangnim is an active parish. The schedules can be changed and must be confirmed before they go. You should remain silent at the celebrations and ask for permission before photographing people, especially older people.

A dozen can be offered for those living in poverty, one for the sick and caregivers, one for the elderly who face solitude and another for the workers of Saha.

Prayer to Our Lady of the Poor of Jangnim

Virgin of the Poor, he guards the parish of Jangnim and the neighbourhoods of Saha. About your Son to those who lack home, health, work, education or company. He blesses the elderly, the caregivers, the workers and the migrant families. Make us friends of the poor, attentive before speaking and persevering in serving. Amen.

Sources consulted

• Episcopal Conference of Korea: patronazgo oficial.
• Mobile Episcopal Directory: direction and foundation.
• Catholic Times: dedication and temple characteristics in 2001.
• Catholic Times: Silver School of Nazareth.
• Diocese of Busan: donation of blood certificates.
• Bannux Sanctuary: official chronology of 1933.
• Bannux Sanctuary: context and message.
• John Paul II: recognition of Bannux and Virgin of the Poor.
• Pope Francis: being friends of the poor and memory of Bannux.
• Mapping verified by name and city.

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