Divine kenosis: spiritual practices in religious education in Korean Catholic schools

This study examines how teachers in Korean Catholic schools interpret and teach religious education within a policy framework that mandates neutrality toward religion. Although national education policy requires religious neutrality, Catholic schools in South Korea continue to cultivate a distinctive ethos grounded in faith and spirituality. Drawing on qualitative interviews with priests and nuns responsible for religious education, this research explores how educators navigate the tension between state expectations and the Church’s mission of faith formation. The findings reveal that teachers adopt a Christocentric approach inspired by Trinitarian belief and kenotic spirituality, emphasising self-giving love. They understand the teaching of religion not merely as instruction but as a spiritual vocation that fosters moral awareness and an encounter with God in everyday life. Through storytelling, prayer, silence, and ritual practices, teachers embody kenosis, the self-emptying love of God, as a lived pedagogy that transforms the classroom into a space of reverence and care. The study argues that kenosis provides both a theological and pedagogical framework for reconciling Catholic identity with the state’s requirement of neutrality. By embodying this spirituality of humility, Korean Catholic educators demonstrate how faith formation and civic values can coexist, offering a kenosis-inspired model of spiritually grounded education within plural societies.