Seong-i Sido Retreat House

History & origins

St. Isidore Retreat House developed as the St. Isidore Development Association expanded its work beyond rural development into education, welfare, and other forms of service. The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia records that retreat-house activities began in 1980 and grew with a favorable response from Catholics across the country. This was a period when the St. Isidore area was beginning to expand from a center of rural development into a place for prayer and spiritual life.

The retreat ministry subsequently developed alongside the association’s other educational projects. In the 1990s, a separate social-education training institute for young people—the institution that became the Youth Home—was established, while the retreat house increasingly clarified its own role as a place for spiritual programs for adult Catholics, dioceses, religious communities, and groups.

From the 1990s onward, the wider St. Isidore area also gained the Saemi Garden of Grace and other spaces for prayer and pilgrimage. The retreat house became part of this environment, providing a base where individuals and groups could stay and pray. Current official information states that it welcomes retreats not only from the Diocese of Jeju but also from dioceses, religious institutes, missionary societies, lay groups, and individuals throughout Korea.

The history of St. Isidore Retreat House can therefore be understood as part of the broader process by which the St. Isidore project expanded from economic and social support for the local community into the realm of faith and spirituality. The present facility continues that development through retreat and pilgrimage.