Nong-eun Hong Yu-han was a pioneering Korean scholar who, beginning in 1750, studied Western Learning together with the disciples of Seongho Yi Ik. They read The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (Tianzhu Shiyi), Seven Victories (Qike),and Jikbang Oegi, and it is known that Hong began practicing the ascetical discipline described in Seven Victories even before the famous Cheonjinam (천진암,Cheonjinam) Lecture Gathering, which is regarded as the birthplace of the Korean Catholic Church.

In 1757, following the advice of Yi Ik, he sold hi shome in Seoul and moved to Yesan in Chungcheong-do, where relatives lived. He sought rest and healing in the mountains while deepening his study of Catholic teaching. There he took the pen name Nong-eun and lived quietly in ascetic practice for 18 years.

In 1775, seeking an environment more suitable for a life of prayer, he moved to the Yeongnam region and settled near DanasanGuguri (단산 구구리) in Sunheung, at the foot of Sobaeksan. Because of Hong Yu-han’s early and exemplary embrace of Catholic moral teaching, the Diocese of Andong recognizes him as the first ascetic practitioner of the Korean Church and regards his life as a spiritual foundation for faith within the diocesan territory.

Development Toward the Establishment of the Diocese of Andong

The Diocese of Daegu, established in 1911, oversaw the Gyeongsang provinces. Despite the devastation of the Korean War, the local Church continued to growsteadily.

• In 1954, the Diocese established the Gyeongnam Vicariate Forane to care for the faithful in southern Gyeongsang.
• In 1957, the Diocese of Busan was created to pastor that region.

Meanwhile, in 1953, the Waegwan Vicariate Forane was erected, entrusting pastoral care of northwestern Gyeongsang—Sangju, Mungyeong, Gimcheon, Geumneung, Seonsan, Seongju, and Chilgok—to Benedictine monks who had fled to Waegwan during the war.

In1958, priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) were invited again, this time to establish the Andong Vicariate Forane. They were entrusted with the northeastern districts of Gyeongsangbuk-do: Andong, Yeongju, Yeongyang, Bonghwa, Yecheon, Yeongdeok, Yeongil, Pohang, and Cheongsong.

Through active missionary work, Archbishop Suh Jeong-gil of Daegu eventually recognized the need for an independent diocese to care for the vast northern region. Thus, in reorganizing the territory:

• The Andong Vicariate (Andong, Yeongju, Yeongyang, Bonghwa, Yecheon, Yeongdeok, Cheongsong) formed the core of the new diocese.
• Yeongil and Pohang were reassigned to the Diocese of Daegu.
• Uiseong (formerly Daegu territory) and Sangju and Mungyeong (formerly Waegwan Vicariate) were incorporated into the new Andong Diocese.
• Uljin, previously under the Diocese of Wonju, was also added.

Finally,on May 29, 1969, Pope Paul VI separated the northern part of Gyeongsangbuk-do from the Diocese of Daegu and formally established the Diocese of Andong. He appointed, as its first bishop, Fr. René Dupont (두봉 레나도), then Regional Superior of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Korea and Chancellor of the Diocese of Daejeon, who had been serving as assistant pastor of Daeheung-dong Parish.