DOI
10.32436/2475-6423.1130
Abstract
It has been often observed that national parishes in the US play a central role for Catholic immigrants in preserving and transmitting the cultural heritage of the community. For Catholic immigrants, a parish is more than a place of worship. It is a source of belonging, comfort, friendship, social interaction, and most importantly, a place in which the immigrant’s cultural heritage is reaffirmed and preserved. The early European immigrants to the US built their national parishes following the architectural style of their homelands, by which they could express their cultural identity. However, more recent arrivals like Asians and Hispanics are restricted from constructing their own national parishes due to the unfavorable experiences of many dioceses when numerous national parishes closed down or merged after the European immigration dwindled and the children of the immigrant parents became assimilated into the wider American culture. For Korean American Catholics who find themselves in this precarious circumstance, parish is an unstable and discontinuous space. How and where does the parish contain the cultural identity for Korean American Catholics?
This paper discusses worship space of two Korean American Catholic parishes – St. Agnes in Los Angeles and St. Andrew Kim in Maplewood, New Jersey – as case studies for nuancing the above observation that parish functions to preserve an immigrant community’s cultural identity. By exploring the material culture such as the church building and the use of worship space as “sites of memory,” I argue that worship space for Korean American Catholics is an living space in which, through the workings of memory, an immigrant’s sense of self and cultural heritage is asserted, reaffirmed, and transmitted.
Recommended Citation
Goo, Hansol Ph.D. (cand.)
(2023)
"Worship Space and Immigrant Memory: Korean Parishes in Los Angeles and New Jersey,"
Journal of Global Catholicism:
Vol. 7:
Iss.
2, Article 4. p.52-83.
DOI: 10.32436/2475-6423.1130
Available at:
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/jgc/vol7/iss2/4
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