A study on the conceptualization of competency in catholic universities- Based on the purpose and mission of catholic education

This study aims to conceptualize the purpose and mission of Catholic education as Catholic Competencies and to expand it by integrating the values of Catholic education into the competency areas that form the basis of the domestic university curriculum, in order to examine whether the competency concepts established by Catholic Universities, which account for half of private universities, align with their inherent identity. To this end, a literature study was conducted, focusing on official Vatican documents of the Catholic Church, to extract and structure Catholic Competencies from the purpose and mission of Catholic education. The results indicate that the purpose of Catholic education is first, to nurture genuine and complete individuals; second, to educate the most noble and capable citizens; and third, to contribute to humanity by interpreting academic disciplines through the eyes of faith. To achieve these objectives, Catholic schools bear the mission of practicing holistic education and evangelization, and Catholic educators perform their duties based on a sense of vocation as their apostolate. The components of Catholic Competencies include a sense of vocation, evangelization competency, character competency, and Common Good competency. To explore how these Catholic Competencies relate to the competencies established by domestic Catholic Universities, two target universities were selected and analyzed. The findings reveal that the components of Catholic Competencies are reflected in the competency areas, educational philosophy, educational objectives, and ideals of graduates of Catholic Universities. However, there is a need for a more proactive exploration and concretization of competency concepts to embody the fundamental mission and diverse identity of each university. This study is significant as the first research combining Catholic values and competencies, and it anticipates expansion into various case studies on Catholic Competencies in the future.