Sisters of Jesus' Flower Village

History & origins

The Kkottongnae Brothers and Sisters of Jesus were founded in September 1986 and received formal diocesan approval from the Bishop of Cheongju in December of that year. Their first profession took place in February 1988. Once the institutional foundation of the religious communities had been established, the sisters began to be sent gradually to the welfare and spiritual apostolates of Kkottongnae.

A direct link between the Sisters and Gapyeong is documented on July 17, 1989, when one sister of the institute was assigned to Gapyeong Kkottongnae. In 1990 a long-term development plan for the Gapyeong welfare complex was prepared, permission to lease land was granted in 1991, and from 1992 through 1995 facilities for the elderly, people with mental illness and disabilities, and a hospital were developed in stages. The sisters' community in Gapyeong thus found its local setting as the broader Gapyeong Kkottongnae complex took shape.

In 1993 the Brothers and Sisters held their first perpetual professions and an interim general assembly, further organizing the institutes before expanding their apostolates in Korea and abroad. The present registration of a distinct Gapyeong branch in the official Catholic directory shows how the local presence that began with the 1989 assignment developed into an established religious community.