Institute of the Blessed Sacrament

History & origins

The history of the Blessed Sacrament Sisters of Charity began with an effort within the Catholic Church in Korea to form a religious community dedicated to serving poor and vulnerable neighbors. According to the congregation's official history, Father Lawrence Yoon Eul-su prepared the community as its founder, and the congregation was founded on November 19, 1956. In 1958, the first members made vows and were sent to parish apostolates, giving concrete form to the community's religious life and active ministry.

The congregation then established its canonical and institutional foundation by developing its rules and constitutions. Its official chronology records that the constitutions were approved and the community was declared a diocesan religious congregation in 1960, followed by the first perpetual professions in 1962. On this foundation, the sisters expanded their work through parish ministry, social welfare, early childhood education, and other specialized apostolates.

The local history directly connected with the present Busan branch can be traced through the history of Yongho Parish. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that a community of the Blessed Sacrament Sisters of Charity was established there in March 1979, shortly after the parish itself was founded, and that a convent was built in September of the same year. When this is read together with the current official directory, which still lists the Busan branch at the same address as Yongho Catholic Church, it confirms that the local religious community has roots reaching back to the early period of the parish. The history of this place therefore lies at the point where the congregation's wider foundation and spirituality became embodied in a specific religious community in the Yongho area of Busan. The official chronology also records that on June 25, 1958, shortly after the first professions, two sisters were sent to Yesan Parish in the Diocese of Daejeon as the congregation’s first mission assignment. This shows that from its earliest years the institute defined itself not by communal religious life alone but as an active congregation sent into parishes and society. The later Busan branch can be understood within this broader pattern of apostolic expansion, taking concrete form as a religious community closely connected with a local parish.