(Daily Daegu Gyeongbuk News = Reporter Kim Hyeong-man) Gyeongsangbuk-do held a capacity-building workshop in Jeju Island for 3 days and 2 nights starting April 22 to revitalize the Soul Stay project, the only Catholic healing experience program in the country.
This workshop was attended by 11 participating organizations of Soul Stay in the province, officials from the Soul Stay Business Group, and working-level officials from the Provincial and Gyeongbuk Culture and Tourism Corporation, in order to diversify and improve the quality of programs such as meditation and healing experiences through tours of tourism contents of Catholic institutions in Jeju Island. It has been prepared.
During the workshop, the province held retreat activities at the Seongsidol Retreat Center along with a meeting to strengthen collaboration with participating organizations and exchange information, and visited the Garden of Sammy Grace, the grave of the late Mary Jeong Nan-ju, the wife of Hwang Sa-yeong, who was martyred in the White Paper Incident, and the arrival of Father Kim Dae-geon in Jeju. I visited the Yongsu Shrine, a memorial hall, and experienced Jeju Island’s Catholic pilgrimage program.
Father Choi Jae-young, head of the Soul Stay Project Group of the Catholic Archdiocese of Daegu, said, “I think it was a good opportunity to exchange information to revitalize the program and receive inspiration from the Jeju retreat facility through the Soul Stay Workshop, which has not been operated for the past several years due to COVID-19. “I hope that many people will have a great opportunity to receive rest for their souls and encouragement for their hearts by participating in Soul Stay,” he said.
Meanwhile, Soul Stay is a theme tourism product that allows busy modern people to experience rest, comfort, and true rest through meditation, prayer, and experiential activities while staying at a Catholic retreat house, monastery, or welfare facility, and is the only one operated in Gyeongsangbuk-do. . Currently, 11 Catholic organizations in the province are participating in the project, and it is gaining popularity as a representative healing tourism product in Gyeongbuk, with more than 210,000 people participating in the experience by 2023.
Kim Sang-cheol, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “Through this workshop, we hope that the products will be further upgraded by sharing best practices from each organization and incorporating advanced practices from other organizations.” He added, “Soul Stay travel products will continue to provide inspiration to the people.” “We will actively support it to establish itself as a representative tourism product that provides peace and healing and promotes Gyeongbuk,” he said.
