Sisters of Mary
Religious house
마리아 수녀회
About this place
The Sisters of Mary is a women's religious institute based in Amnam-dong, Seo-gu, Busan. The official Catholic directory in Korea lists the Busan community at this address and gives the institute's English name as “The Sisters of Mary.” This is not an ordinary parish church but a center of a religious community in which sisters live a common life of prayer and carry out apostolic works, linking the institute's origins in Busan with its continuing mission.
The identity of the institute is deeply connected with service to the poor, especially children and young people in need of care and education. Its early self-help, medical, educational, and residential-care works in Busan gave concrete form to that mission, and the community in Amnam-dong can still be understood as a central place in the continuation of this tradition. It is therefore a place to be understood with respect for the character of religious community life and apostolic ministry rather than approached as an ordinary parish church or tourist facility.
History & origins
The Sisters of Mary was founded in Busan by Father Aloysius Schwartz on August 15, 1964. A contemporary profile published by The Catholic Times in 1969 described the new institute as having begun with a distinctive commitment to serving the poor. The same founding date appears in the historical chronology maintained by Busan Aloysius Elementary School, allowing the date and the institute's origin in Busan to be cross-checked.
The foundation grew out of relief work among the poor, children, and patients in postwar Busan. Father Schwartz was assigned to Songdo Parish in the Diocese of Busan in 1962, and in 1963 he began a self-help handkerchief-embroidery project employing residents of impoverished neighborhoods. After the institute was founded, its work expanded to a clinic in Ami-dong in 1966, additional clinics in Amnam-dong and Bosu-dong in 1967, and a free educational institution in 1968.
A Boys Town was established in Amnam-dong in 1969, and in 1970 the institute expanded both free medical care and residential protection for children. The Boys Town complex was formally completed in 1972, and a school opened in 1973, further defining an apostolate that combined care and education. Through this development, Amnam-dong became a core area where the religious community and its social-welfare and educational ministries grew together.
On August 15, 2024, the Sisters of Mary marked the sixtieth anniversary of its foundation with a thanksgiving Mass at the Aloysius Playground in Busan, presided over by Bishop Son Sam-seok. Celebrated on the Solemnity of the Assumption, the same date as the institute's founding, the Mass offered an occasion for the wider diocesan community to look back on six decades of a tradition of service that began in Busan.
한국 가톨릭 장소백과
Sisters of Mary의 첫 기록
아직 공개된 한국 가톨릭 장소백과 문서가 없습니다. 확인 가능한 출처와 함께 이 천주교 장소의 역사와 이야기를 기록해 보세요.
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- Official source
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
Diocese
Busan Diocese (Diocese of Busan)
Official website: https://www.catholicbusan.or.kr
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