Korean Sisters of Mercy of the Virgin Mary

History & origins

The roots of the congregation reach back to a community that cared for elderly people during the hardships surrounding the Korean War. In 1951, near Gyesan Cathedral, a community began in which elderly people without family support lived together with women who hoped to enter religious life. As the community grew, it moved through Ansim-dong and eventually to Dongmyeong. In 1961, Archbishop John Seo Jeong-gil established Seongga Home for the Elderly in Dongmyeong, giving the apostolate of care for older people a stable base.

The women serving at the home were formally organized in 1970 as the “Korean Martyr Women Apostolate,” and in 1987 the community acquired an institutional framework as a diocesan-approved religious community whose members wore ordinary dress. In February 2002, the Archdiocese of Daegu completed the formal process of establishing and approving the “Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Mother of Korea.” From then on, the community entered a new stage as a women’s religious institute serving the elderly, the infirm, and the poor in the spirituality of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As the congregation’s apostolate continued to expand, it also needed a place dedicated to the prayer, education, and formation of the sisters themselves. On October 17, 2015, the newly built church and convent were dedicated under the presidency of the Archbishop of Daegu. The church and motherhouse were created so that the long-standing ministry to the elderly could continue on the inner foundation of common prayer and religious formation, bringing together in one place the congregation’s growth from a postwar welfare community into a formally established religious institute.