Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

History & origins

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were founded on December 8, 1854, at Issoudun, France, by Fr. Jules Chevalier. Chevalier sought to form a missionary community that would respond to indifference toward God and the wounds of the age through the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the proclamation of the Gospel. In 1869, the congregation was approved as an institute of pontifical right.

Its mission in Korea began on February 17, 1985, when a missionary from the Philippine Province was sent at the invitation of Bishop Gabriel Lee Gap-su of Busan. The congregation developed ministries in parishes, maritime pastoral care, and service to migrant workers, and in 1987 the Korean presence became a section of the Philippine Province.

As the number of candidates increased, the congregation needed a separate place for formation. On September 10, 1996, it established a formation house and retreat house in Bureun-myeon, Ganghwa, creating the historical foundation of today’s Ganghwa Community, formation house, and retreat apostolate. In April 1999, the Korean section was elevated to a region, marking a further stage in the development of the congregation in Korea.

The congregation’s early development also provides background for understanding the roots of the Ganghwa community. After receiving encouragement from Pope Pius IX, it became an institute of pontifical right in 1869 and expanded its mission beyond Europe in the late nineteenth century. The 1881 mission to Papua New Guinea was a particularly clear expression of its international missionary character. This wider missionary tradition formed the background to the congregation’s arrival in Korea a century later and eventually to the establishment of a formation community in Ganghwa. The Ganghwa community in Korea stands where this international missionary tradition meets the formation of local vocations. In the early years, the Korean mission depended largely on missionaries sent from an overseas province, but the growth in candidates created a need for a system capable of forming members within Korea itself. The Ganghwa formation house gave physical form to that transition and shows the congregation moving from an initial missionary presence toward a sustainable local community.