Little Brothers (Franciscan Order)

History & origins

The Order of Friars Minor first came into contact with the Korean Church in 1928, when members of the Canadian Province of St. Joseph, then working in Japan, entered Korea to direct retreats for Korean priests. A permanent mission began in 1937. Bishop Adrien-Joseph Larribeau, then Apostolic Vicar of Seoul, asked the friars to establish a retreat house for priests in Daejeon, and in September of that year two Franciscans arrived and began community life there.

In December 1938 the friars opened and blessed in Mok-dong what the Korean Catholic Encyclopedia identifies as Korea’s first Franciscan friary, then called the “St. Mary of the Angels Friary.” Mok-dong thus became an early base for the Order of Friars Minor in Korea. During the Second World War, however, the Canadian friars were detained after Canada and Japan became enemies, and in 1942 they were placed under house arrest in Gongju, bringing the friary’s activity to a halt. After liberation they returned to Daejeon and worked to restore religious life.

The friary also became closely connected with the history of the local parish. When the former Daejeon Parish moved to Daeheung-dong in October 1945, the community remaining in Mok-dong became a quasi-parish entrusted to the Franciscans. Parish ministry in Mok-dong subsequently continued as an important apostolate of the friars.

The present designation “Queen of Angels Friary / Novitiate / Parish” grew from this history. It combines the roots of an early Franciscan house in Korea with the long-standing integration of religious formation and parish ministry at the same site.