Roman Catholicism in the Northern Areas of Gyeonggi in the 19th Century

Roman Catholicism in the northern areas of Gyeonggi was spread to Mahyeon and Pocheon first in the latter half of the 18th century. However, a believers' community in those areas was broken up by the persecution in 1801. After that, through believers' effort for reconstruction, Joseon Church became active and it paved the way for its development after French missionaries entered Joseon in 1830s. In 1830s, Pocheon, Mahyeon, and Goyang were the villages for believers. Pocheon and Mahyeon were that the old communities, which had been broken up, were reconstructed, and Goyang appeared first. It seems that these communities were newly built up under the background that churches were active after missionaries' entering Joseon and the areas were near Seoul. Under this background, the northern areas of Gyeonggi were more developed in terms of the number of believers than during the early church times. This circumstance in the northern areas of Gyeonggi was continued to the middle of the 19th century. Therefore, in 1860s, a believers' community appeared in Pocheon, Goyang, Paju, Yangju, Songdo, and Jangdan. That is, the distribution of believers was expanded more. Especially, Songdo had overwhelmingly many believers, which tells that Songdo was the center of faith in the northern areas of Gyeonggi. During the times of persecution, the faith tradition in the northern areas of Gyeonggi was centered on Pocheon and Mahyeon, which had kept faith since the early church times, and Goyang and Songdo which newly appeared in the 19th century. And it was expanded to Jangdan (from Songdo), to Paju (from Goyang), and to Yangju (from Pocheon). While Roman Catholicism was spread, many believers were executed in Yangju, Songdo, and Jangdan by persecution in 1866. However, the faith tradition in the northern areas of Gyeonggi was continued even after the port was opened so it has become the faith tradition of Diocese of Uijeongbu today.