Founded 1959 Status Parish church Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle | Functional status Active Groundbreaking 2009 | |
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Priest(s) Rev. Fr. Vicente Robles (parish priest) Similar Bagbag Bridge, National Shrine of Saint Anne, San Miguel Arcangel Church, Marcelo H Del Pilar National, Casa Real Shrine | ||
The Sto. Cristo and St. Andrew Kim Taegon Parish (Korean: 산토 크리스토 와 산 김대건 의 교구) is a Catholic church in Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines. The patron saint of the church is Korean priest Andrew Kim Taegon.
History
The Parish of Saint Andrew Kim was established in 1959.
The parish was declared a sister parish of a shrine also dedicated to Kim-Taegon in South Korea in 1986. Seoul Archbishop Stephen Cardinal Kim gave a statue of Andrew Kim-Taegon to the parish which was then enshrined on the old church building.
The construction of the church building began in 2009 under the watch of then parish priest, Avel Sampana. The construction coincided with the 50th anniversary of the parish.
The church is to be dedicated to the Korean saint Andrew Kim-Taegon. the first Korean-born Catholic priest who stayed in the Philippines in the early 18th century. During the Joseon Dynasty, Christianity was suppressed in Korea and many Christians were persecuted which led to Kim-Taegon fled to Lolomboy in Bocaue in the Philippines where he lived as a seminarian. He was ordained a deacon and later a priest in China before leading a group of French missionaries to convert people to Christianity in Korea. He was arrested sentenced to death in Korea as a traitor. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in May, 1984.