A Study on the Public Role of Religions and the Education of ‘Catholic Citizenship’

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE As revealed in the recent issue of sexual abuse by priests in Catholic churches in the world, it is clear that religion must exist for the public interest and move toward emphasizing and strengthening its public role. Regarding this matter this paper aims to suggest that Catholics should cultivate “Catholic Citizenship” and “Catholic Citizenship Education” is necessary to achieve this.CONTENTS For this the paper tries to find how the church understands its public role in the documents on the Second Vatican Council and Catholic Social Teachings as a theoretical basis for Catholic citizenship education. Also “Asian public theology” is presented as a possible methodology.RESULTS Based on this theoretical study, the case studies of Justice and Peace Committee of the Seoul archdiocese and the Woori Theology Institute are presented as a possibility in the context of Catholic citizenship education. In particular, the former’s “Social Doctrine School” and the latter’s “Monthly Zoom Seminar” are an appropriate education to cultivate Catholic citizenship in terms of diversity, openness, and “Public Sphere.”