About this place
The Jeonju convent and aspirancy of the Little Sisters of the Poor is a religious community in the Diocese of Jeonju where consecrated life, formation, and the apostolate of caring for older people are carried out together. The Catholic Church directory in Korea identifies this site in Soyang-myeon, Wanju, as the order’s “Jeonju Convent / Aspirancy,” and the St. Joseph Hill elder-care facility, for which the congregation is responsible, is located on the same grounds.
The Little Sisters of the Poor is an international congregation whose distinctive mission has long been to welcome poor and vulnerable elderly people as members of one family. Along with poverty, chastity, and obedience, the sisters live a special vow of hospitality and understand the daily care of the elderly as an evangelical service. This place is therefore more than a residence for religious sisters: it is a Jeonju-area community where the congregation’s spirituality, care for the elderly, and the formation of new vocations come together.
History & origins
The Little Sisters of the Poor began in 1839 in Saint-Servan, France, when Jeanne Jugan took a sick and destitute elderly woman into her own home and cared for her. That small act of hospitality grew into a religious community, and the congregation spread to many countries with an apostolate centered on living with and caring for elderly people as members of a family.
The sisters first came to Korea in September 1971. Their early work included taking responsibility for Seongsim Home in Cheongju and caring for the elderly, after which the congregation expanded through the formation of Korean vocations and the establishment of additional communities. Within this broader history in Korea, the Wanju-Soyang community became a place where care for the elderly and religious formation were carried out together.
The St. Joseph Hill Home for the Elderly at the same address is recorded in the Catholic Church directory as having been established on September 1, 1997, with the Little Sisters of the Poor named as the responsible congregation. Public sources do not separately provide the precise opening date of the Jeonju convent itself, but they do confirm that by the late 1990s this site was closely connected with the congregation’s elder-care apostolate and has continued in that role to the present.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
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Building information
- Passenger elevators: 2
- 4 above-ground floors · 1 below-ground floors
- Approved for use in 1997
- Total floor area: 10,081㎡
Building-register record · · Source
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Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Official source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
Diocese
Jeonju Diocese (Diocese of Jeonju)
Official website: https://www.jcatholic.or.kr
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