Jesus' Flower Village Sisters

History & origins

The Institute of Kkottongnae Sisters of Jesus began as the Kkottongnae community was growing in the mid-1980s. According to Kkottongnae's official history of its religious institutes, Fr. Oh Woong-jin founded both the Kkottongnae Brothers and the Sisters on September 8, 1986, and on December 27 of that year Bishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Cheongju granted approval for the establishment of the two institutes. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea directory likewise records December 27, 1986, as the establishment date of the Sisters.

Formation followed the establishment of the institute, and on February 2, 1988, the first professions were made in both the Brothers and the Sisters. In 1989 sisters were sent to Kkottongnae in Gapyeong, beginning an expansion of apostolic work beyond Eumseong. In July 1993 the first perpetual professions and the first interim general chapter followed, strengthening the institute's structures and the foundation for lifelong consecration.

Overseas missions began to expand in the latter part of the 1990s. The official chronology records approval to enter the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the dispatch of sisters there in 1998, followed by further growth of Kkottongnae communities in Korea and abroad. This development made the Eumseong motherhouse's role as a center connecting multiple communities increasingly clear.

Today's motherhouse preserves the institute's growth from diocesan approval in 1986 through early profession and domestic and overseas missions. It is the place where the Sisters' history and present meet, serving as a center that embodies Kkottongnae's apostolate of “Love” in religious life and sends members wherever their service is needed.