Little Jesus Sisters

History & origins

The roots of the Little Jesus community go back to 1983. According to the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia, Father Park Seong-gu, then pastor of Seongsan-dong Parish, became deeply interested in a community for people with disabilities after meeting and living with a married couple with disabilities, and began a spiritual community called the “Little Jesus Association.” In June 1984 he opened Unjeong House of Love in Paju, expanding a base for communal life with people with disabilities; in December of the same year the community continued its work under the name Little Jesus Association.

Preparation for a religious institute became more concrete with the formation of a group of consecrated members in 1988. After receiving a letter in October 1992 from Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, Archbishop of Seoul, permitting the Mass for the establishment of the religious communities, the Sisters of Little Jesus and the corresponding men's community held their foundation ceremony and first clothing ceremony on December 8, 1992. This was the decisive moment when the founder's vision—that people with and without disabilities could live a full religious life together—was given an institutional form.

On February 28, 1998, the constitutions and rules were formally approved for the diocesan religious institutes under the names Sisters of Little Jesus and Brothers of Little Jesus. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that by 2002 the sisters were operating communities in several regions, including Daegu. The Daegu community therefore belongs to the wider expansion through which the congregation has continued its spirituality of “living together” and human dignity in local settings.