About this place
St. Philip Eco Village in Pyeongchang, Gangwon State, is a retreat and prayer facility of the Diocese of Suwon and a center for ecological ministry. The Catholic Church directory lists it as a diocesan retreat and prayer house, while diocesan materials describe a place where retreats, rest, environmental education, and hands-on experiences are combined. Rather than being centered on a single church building, it is a broad community setting that connects nature, agriculture, and everyday ecological practice with Christian reflection on creation.
The village links the enjoyment of nature with concrete efforts to protect the environment and sustain rural communities. Organic gardens, traditional fermented foods, and the purchase of locally grown agricultural products are part of an attempt to connect ecological values with ordinary economic life. Visitors can therefore understand St. Philip Eco Village not simply as accommodation for retreat, but as a site of the Diocese of Suwon where prayer, rest, environmental formation, and solidarity with rural life meet in one place.
History & origins
St. Philip Eco Village began around 2000 when Fr. Benedict Hwang Chang-yeon started developing an ecological community in the mountain countryside of Pyeongchang. According to materials from the Diocese of Suwon, Fr. Hwang studied environmental engineering after his priestly ordination and developed a strong interest in caring for creation. The late Fr. Philip Kim Chang-rin helped make the project possible, and the village was named after Fr. Kim’s baptismal name, Philip.
From the beginning, the goal was more than offering rest in nature. The community cultivated organic crops, made traditional fermented foods such as soybean paste and red-pepper paste, and invited people from urban environments to experience a different way of living with nature. In 2004 the village began producing and selling powdered cheonggukjang in order to increase consumption of locally grown beans, and this became an important link between local farming and the economic sustainability of the village.
Over time, St. Philip Eco Village became a representative ecological-ministry center of the Diocese of Suwon for retreats, environmental education, and experiential learning. Diocesan accounts describe many visitors coming to pray and rest in nature while reflecting on environmental issues as questions of everyday life. The village has also sought to direct income from agricultural processing and sales toward forms of sharing for Church and society, making the integration of ecological care, rural solidarity, and Christian practice the defining feature of its history.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
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Suwon Diocese (Diocese of Suwon)
Official website: http://www.casuwon.or.kr
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