36. English Mass in Seoul — Where and When to Go, Including Christmas

October 16, 2026 | WYD | hellokr.kr

Seoul has more than two hundred Catholic parishes, and on a Sunday morning almost every one of them is full. Nearly all of those Masses are in Korean. If you want to hear the readings and the homily in English, the choice narrows to a handful of places, and the lists you will find online are mostly old — copied from site to site, some of them unchanged for years.

So we went to the people who actually set the times: the Archdiocese of Seoul, which publishes its own list of Masses for foreigners, and the parishes themselves. This guide covers the three places a visitor can rely on, how to reach each by subway, where to go to confession in English, what a Korean Mass feels like if you have never been to one, and what to expect if you are in Seoul for Christmas.

Myeongdong Cathedral — Sunday 9 AM

If you only have one Sunday in Seoul, this is the obvious choice. Myeongdong Cathedral is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Seoul, a red-brick Gothic church consecrated in 1898 on the spot where Korea's first Catholic community gathered in 1784. In 1900 the relics of martyrs from the persecutions of 1839 and 1866 were moved into its crypt. Hearing Mass here in your own language is a quiet privilege that most visitors to Myeongdong's shopping streets, two minutes away, never know about.

The cathedral's own timetable, in force since January 2026, lists the English Mass at 9:00 AM every Sunday, in the main cathedral. The rest of the Sunday schedule is in Korean, from 7:00 AM through 9:00 PM, so if you miss 9 AM you can still attend a later Mass in Korean and follow along in your own missal or app.

• Address: 74 Myeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
• Subway: Myeongdong Station, Line 4, exit 5 or 8; Euljiro 1-ga Station, Line 2, exit 5; Euljiro 3-ga Station, Line 3, exit 12
• Phone: +82 2 774 1784
• Parking: the cathedral asks visitors to come by public transport on Saturdays and Sundays because of congestion

Confession in English. The cathedral offers English confession before the 9:00 AM Sunday Mass and on Saturdays from 4:00 to 5:00 PM. It also runs a permanent confessional open most of the week; note that on Mondays that confessional is reserved for clergy and religious.

Catholic International Parish, Hannam-dong — Sunday 9 AM and 11 AM

This is the parish built for people like you. Masses for foreigners in Seoul began in 1978, moved to the Franciscan friary in Hannam-dong in 1985, and since 1987 the parish has been run by the Conventual Franciscans under an agreement with the archdiocese. Its official name is St. Francis Catholic International Parish, though the archdiocese lists it simply as the International (Foreigners') Parish.

Both the parish's own schedule and the archdiocese's directory give two English Masses: Sunday 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. The same compound hosts Sunday Masses in German, Italian and Spanish and a Saturday evening Mass in French, so the congregation is genuinely international.

• Address: 90 Hannam-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
• Subway: the nearest station is Hangangjin, Line 6; Hannam Station on the Gyeongui–Jungang Line is a slightly longer walk
• Phone: +82 2 793 2070
• Email: stfranciscoseoul@gmail.com

Confession in English. The parish hears confessions on Sundays before or after Mass, and by appointment with the priest.

Because this parish exists for English speakers, it is also the most natural place to ask about anything beyond Sunday Mass — sacraments, a priest to talk to, or a community to join if you are staying longer than a holiday.

St. Ignatius Church, Sogang University — Sunday Evening

Sogang is Seoul's Jesuit university, and its campus church is listed by the archdiocese among the places with an English Mass for foreigners, held on Sunday evening. It is the one to know if your Sunday morning is taken by a flight, a tour or a long Saturday night. Call the university chaplaincy to confirm the exact time before you go, particularly during university holidays.

• Address: Sogang University, 35 Baekbeom-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul (the chaplaincy office is in St. Ignatius Hall, I-building, room 100)
• Subway: Daeheung Station, Line 6; Sinchon Station, Line 2; or Sogang Univ. Station on the Gyeongui–Jungang Line
• Phone: +82 2 705 8161 (university chaplaincy)

Beyond These Three

The Archdiocese of Seoul's “Masses for foreigners” page is the official place to look for anything else. It also lists Masses for language communities — Tagalog for the Filipino community (including a Sunday afternoon Mass at Hyehwa-dong Church), Vietnamese, Indonesian, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish for the Latin American community. The page itself asks visitors to confirm times by phone, and so do we: call ahead for anything not on the list above.

Outside Seoul, each diocese keeps its own Mass directory. If you are travelling to Busan, Daegu or a shrine in the countryside, check that diocese's website rather than a general list.

What to Expect at a Korean Mass

The Mass is the Mass — you will know exactly where you are, even in Korean. A few things are worth knowing in advance, most of them from Myeongdong Cathedral's own guidance to worshippers:

• Come early. The cathedral asks people to arrive at least ten minutes before Mass and switch phones off. Popular Masses fill up; arriving late usually means standing at the back.
• Dress neatly. The cathedral specifically asks people not to come in sportswear or slippers. In August, for WYD pilgrims, light clothing is fine — just not beachwear.
• The Eucharistic fast. The one-hour fast before Communion is kept and the cathedral reminds people of it.
• Have the collection ready. The cathedral asks worshippers to prepare their offering beforehand. Cash is what people use; a small note is perfectly fine.
• Veils. You will see many Korean women wearing a white lace veil at Mass. It is a devotional custom many keep; whether you wear one is your own choice.
• Follow the room. You will notice people bowing at several points in the Mass. Do what those around you do and nobody will notice anything.
• The bulletin. The cathedral asks people not to throw the parish bulletin away — take it home or return it neatly for someone else.

Christmas in Seoul

If you are visiting in December, Christmas is a public holiday in Korea and the churches are full. For 2026, December 24 falls on a Thursday and December 25 on a Friday.

None of the three churches has announced its 2026 Christmas schedule yet. That is normal: parishes publish their Christmas liturgy notices in December. Last year Myeongdong Cathedral posted its notice on December 4, 2025. It set the Christmas Midnight Mass at 12 midnight, celebrated by Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick, and announced that Christmas Day Masses would follow the Sunday timetable, the 7:00 AM Mass excepted — and the Sunday timetable is the one that includes the 9:00 AM English Mass. Treat that as last year's pattern, not a promise for this year, and check the cathedral's notice board from early December.

Two practical points carry over from last year. First, the cathedral's permanent confessional closed on December 24 and 25, so if you want to go to confession before Christmas, go earlier in Advent. Second, the cathedral warned of heavy congestion around Myeongdong on both days and asked people to use public transport.

For the International Parish and Sogang, call or email in December; the International Parish is the most likely place to find Christmas liturgies in English beyond Myeongdong's.

For WYD 2027 Pilgrims

World Youth Day Seoul 2027 runs from August 3 to 8, 2027. During the week itself, the main liturgies are part of the official programme. The days before and after are yours. If you arrive early or stay on, the 9 AM Mass at Myeongdong is the simplest way to start a pilgrimage in the city: it is central, it is the mother church of Korean Catholics, and a short walk takes you on toward the martyrs' sites that make Seoul a pilgrimage destination in the first place.

The Bottom Line

On a Sunday in Seoul, you have three reliable options for Mass in English: Myeongdong Cathedral at 9:00 AM, the Catholic International Parish in Hannam-dong at 9:00 or 11:00 AM, and Sogang University's campus church in the evening. Myeongdong is the most central and also offers English confession; Hannam-dong is the parish built for foreigners; Sogang covers you if the morning is gone. For Christmas, wait for the December notices, and in the meantime treat any list that is not from the archdiocese or the parish itself as a lead, not an answer.

Sources

• Archdiocese of Seoul — Masses for foreigners — English Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral (Sunday 9 AM), at the Catholic International Parish (Sunday 9 AM and 11 AM) and at St. Ignatius Church, Sogang University; the language-community Masses including the Tagalog Mass at Hyehwa-dong Church; parish phone numbers; the request to confirm times by phone
• Archdiocese of Seoul — parish Mass directory — the International Parish's Sunday schedule (English at 9:00 and 11:00, German, Italian, Spanish, and French on Saturday evening) and Myeongdong Cathedral's Sunday timetable
• Myeongdong Cathedral — Mass and sacraments — the timetable in force from January 2026, the 9:00 AM English Mass in the cathedral, English confession before the Sunday 9 AM Mass and on Saturdays 4–5 PM, the Monday confessional rule, and the cathedral's guidance on arriving early, dress, the one-hour fast, the offering and the bulletin
• Myeongdong Cathedral — directions — address, phone, subway stations and exits, the request to use public transport at weekends
• Myeongdong Cathedral — 2025 Christmas liturgy notice (posted December 4, 2025) — the 2025 Midnight Mass and its celebrant, Christmas Day Masses following the Sunday timetable except 7 AM, congestion warning
• Myeongdong Cathedral — 2025 Advent confession notice — the permanent confessional closed on December 24 and 25, 2025
• St. Francis Catholic International Parish — liturgical schedule — Sunday English Masses at 9:00 and 11:00 AM, the other language Masses, confession before or after Sunday Mass and by appointment
• St. Francis Catholic International Parish — contact and parish history — address, phone and email; the parish's origins in 1978 and its care by the Conventual Franciscans since 1987
• Sogang University Chaplaincy — directions and contact — campus address, chaplaincy office location and phone number