The Position and Work of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines

Author(s):  
Thomas B. Lawler
2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
William N. Holden

Political ecology shows how environmental issues can be reframed towards addressing the problems of the socially vulnerable. The environmental identity and social movement thesis of political ecology asserts that environmental issues can generate cross-class and inter-ethnic linkages in an effort to blunt powerful forces. Liberation ecology, a variant of political ecology combined with a counter hegemonic discourse, provides another dimension of political ecology. In the Philippines, mining on indigenous lands has generated opposition from indigenous peoples. By examining how the Roman Catholic Church has aided indigenous peoples in their opposition to mining, examples of the environmental identity and social movement thesis of political ecology and liberation ecology can be gleaned. Liberation theology, an impetus to the church’s commitment to the poor, may be the consummate counter hegemonic discourse.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Grace T. Betsayda

This paper investigates the role that the Roman Catholic church has played in the socialization of Filipinos in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The research is based on scholarly acknowledgment of the important place of social institutions—such as churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other places for religious and faith-based gatherings—in the settlement and integration experiences of immigrants. The paper argues that Roman Catholicism, first introduced into the Philippines via Spanish colonization, has become an important marker of identity for many Filipinos and has functioned—aided by their facility in the English language (a result of American colonization of the Philippines)—as a means of easing the barriers to Filipinos’ integration into Canada. To better analyze the role the Roman Catholic church has played in Filipino-Canadian immigrant life, the study provides an overview of the history of migration to Canada and discusses the place of the church as seen from the perspective of representatives of diasporic, transnational and second generation communities of Filipinos in Canada. As such, the main data for the study is drawn primary material comprising interviews with Filipino-Canadians from each of these community groups.


Author(s):  
Nestor T Castro

The Philippines held its national elections last May 2019. During the election campaign, several religious groups organized electoral slates or supported particular political candidates. Among these groups were the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) with its Alagad Party, the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Movement with its CIBAC Party, the El Shaddai with its Buhay Party, and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ which supported all of the candidates backed by the Duterte government. On the other hand, the dominant Roman Catholic Church did not support any political party or candidate as a bloc but emphasized the need for the electorate to use their conscience and vote wisely. Some Roman Catholic priests, however, openly supported the opposition Otso Diretso slate for the Senate.This paper looks at the interesting link between religion and politics in the Philippines, especially in its recent political history, i.e. from 1986 up to the present. In particular, this paper will attempt to answer the following questions: What role do the various religious groups in the Philippines play in the field of the political arena? Do Filipinos vote based on their religious affiliation?


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Grace T. Betsayda

This paper investigates the role that the Roman Catholic church has played in the socialization of Filipinos in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The research is based on scholarly acknowledgment of the important place of social institutions—such as churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other places for religious and faith-based gatherings—in the settlement and integration experiences of immigrants. The paper argues that Roman Catholicism, first introduced into the Philippines via Spanish colonization, has become an important marker of identity for many Filipinos and has functioned—aided by their facility in the English language (a result of American colonization of the Philippines)—as a means of easing the barriers to Filipinos’ integration into Canada. To better analyze the role the Roman Catholic church has played in Filipino-Canadian immigrant life, the study provides an overview of the history of migration to Canada and discusses the place of the church as seen from the perspective of representatives of diasporic, transnational and second generation communities of Filipinos in Canada. As such, the main data for the study is drawn primary material comprising interviews with Filipino-Canadians from each of these community groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fides A del Castillo ◽  
Hazel T Biana ◽  
Jeremiah Joven B Joaquin

Abstract In a recently published letter to the editor of this journal, the authors have called for the need to establish psychological support structures that cater to people’s mental health in this time of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. To be more holistic, we extend this call to include people’s spiritual well-being as well. We highlight the initiatives of the Philippines’ religious sector. In particular, we report some of the interventions made by the Roman Catholic Church that have led to the social media hashtag, #ChurchInAction. These religious and spiritual interventions showcase the efforts of the Philippine Church and play an important role in providing assistance in time of public health crisis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-280
Author(s):  
Rhoderick John Suarez Abellanosa

The declaration of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in various provinces and cities in the Philippines did not impede the Catholic Church from celebrating its sacraments and popular devotions. Mired with poverty and various forms of economic and social limitations, the presence of God for Filipinos is an essential element in moving forward and surviving in a time of pandemic. Predominantly Roman Catholic in religious affiliation, seeking the face of God has been part of Filipinos' lives whenever a serious disaster would strike. This essay presents how the clergy, religious and lay communities in the Philippines have innovatively and creatively sustained treasured religious celebrations as a sign of communion and an expression of faith. In addition to online Eucharistic celebrations that are more of a privilege for some, culturally contextualised efforts were made during the Lenten Season and even on Sundays after Easter. This endeavour ends with a reflection on the Church as the sacrament of God in a time of pandemic. Pushed back to their homes, deprived of life's basic necessities and facing threats of social instability, unemployment and hunger, Filipinos through their innovative celebrations find in their communion with their Church the very presence of God acting significantly in their lives.


2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-364
Author(s):  
Kristin Norget

This article explores new political practices of the Roman Catholic Church by means of a close critical examination of the beatification of the Martyrs of Cajonos, two indigenous men from the Mexican village of San Francisco Cajonos, Oaxaca, in 2002. The Church’s new strategy to promote an upsurge in canonizations and beatifications forms part of a “war of images,” in Serge Gruzinski’s terms, deployed to maintain apparently peripheral populations within the Church’s central paternalistic fold of social and moral authority and influence, while at the same time as it must be seen to remain open to local cultures and realities. In Oaxaca and elsewhere, this ecclesiastical technique of “emplacement” may be understood as an attempt to engage indigenous-popular religious sensibilities and devotion to sacred images while at the same time implicitly trying to contain them, weaving their distinct local historical threads seamlessly into the fabric of a global Catholic history.


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