Mary's Forest Village Retreat House

History & origins

The development of Seongmo Solsup Village began with the purchase of the site in March 2014. According to a 2022 homily by Archbishop Thaddeus Cho Hwan-gil, Father Park Sang-ho John undertook the project, and construction of a church, dining hall, café, and office began in June 2015. The first phase of the facilities was completed in November 2016.

Archdiocesan records state that Seongmo Solsup Village was established on January 18, 2017. On March 2 of that year, Auxiliary Bishop John Bosco Chang Shin-ho presided over the blessing of the chapel. By then the site included the chapel, office, neighborhood facilities, and a priest’s residence, and it was beginning to function as a retreat center where Mass was celebrated.

With continued support from the faithful, a retreat house, a healing house, and a convent were subsequently added. On May 7, 2022, Archbishop Cho celebrated Mass and blessed the retreat house, convent, and education center, formally dedicating the expanded complex within the life of the archdiocese.

An outdoor crucifix was blessed later that October. Seongmo Solsup Village therefore developed not as a single completed project but through successive stages of construction, prayer, and support from the mid-2010s onward, becoming an archdiocesan retreat center focused on consolation and healing.