Flower Village Pope Francis Center (Retreat House)
Retreat center
꽃동네 교황프란치스코센터(피정의 집)
About this place
The Kkottongnae Pope Francis Center is a retreat and prayer facility of Kkottongnae located in Ganghwa County, Incheon. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea lists it among the country’s retreat and prayer houses in connection with the Kkottongnae Brothers and Sisters of Jesus. It is therefore best understood not as a territorial parish church but as a spiritual place where individuals and groups can step away from daily life for prayer, retreat, and reflection on their faith.
The center’s official facility guide confirms that it includes a chapel as well as accommodation and dining spaces. The chapel serves as the principal space for common prayer and liturgy, while a cornerstone blessed by Pope Francis stands near the entrance, giving tangible expression to the center’s name and spiritual symbolism. In the setting of Ganghwa, it is a place where Kkottongnae’s spirituality of care continues through the ministry of retreat.
History & origins
The background of the Pope Francis Center lies in the formation of the Ganghwa Kkottongnae community. Reliable reporting records that Ganghwa Kkottongnae received approval for its establishment from the Diocese of Incheon in November 1996, and that Kkottongnae religious were assigned there in July 1998, continuing a local life of community and care. On this foundation, a separate center for retreat and prayer was later developed.
Construction of the center took concrete form with a groundbreaking in May 2015. On June 7, 2017, Father Oh Woong-jin and his party met Pope Francis, and the cornerstone intended for the center received the Pope’s blessing. The center’s own facility guide also identifies this date and the blessed cornerstone, which is now placed at the entrance.
Kkottongnae’s official chronology records that the Ganghwa Kkottongnae “Pope Francis Center” was blessed on August 18, 2017. Through this sequence, the name became more than a commemorative title: it was tied directly to the cornerstone blessed by the Pope, while a distinct place for prayer and retreat took its place within the wider community of care at Ganghwa Kkottongnae.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Start the first record for Flower Village Pope Francis Center (Retreat House)
No public encyclopedia article is available for this place yet. Help document its Catholic history and stories with verifiable sources.
Encyclopedia articles are currently available in Korean.
Would you like to record this place in your pilgrimage passport?
Sign in to keep this record with you.
Accessibility information
Accessibility information is not available yet. Please check with the location before visiting.
Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Official source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
- Last updated
- Source
- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
Diocese
Cheongju Diocese (Diocese of Cheongju)
Official website: https://www.cdcj.or.kr
Help verify information
Did the Mass schedule or church information change?
Let us know if you confirmed the displayed information or noticed something different.
Information Status: Official source
Visited here? Share details about toilets, parking or ramps.
Sign in to leave a visitor check.
Sign in to confirm the schedule or report a change.
Reports are saved for review. Mass times are changed after evidence such as official sources is checked, not automatically based on visitor confirmations.