TheGospel reached the 곡성(Gokseong) region around 1815, when believersfleeing the 을해박해(Eul-hae Persecution) migrated south fromGangwon-do and Gyeongsang-do. They settled in 덕실마을(DeoksilVillage, now Seungbeop-ri) and 미륵골(Mireukgol, now Misan-ri). To maintain their faithand livelihood, they opened kilns, making and selling earthenware whileconcealing their identities.

The곡성현(Gokseong prefecture) magistrate imprisoned captured Catholics by convertingthe local 객사(Gaeksa, state guesthouse) into a temporary prisonwhere interrogations and torture occurred, thus beginning the 정해박해(Jeong-hae Persecution).

In1957, 130 years later, 광주대교구장 하롤드 헨리 주교(Bishop Harold Henry of the Archdiocese ofGwangju) decided to establish 곡성본당(Gokseong Parish) on this veryground of martyrdom. Although the community then had only ten Catholics, landwas secured on the site of the former guesthouse that once served as theprison. The parish was founded on August 15, 1958, and the church building wascompleted on October 6 of the same year.