Power Dynamics Beyond Collusion and Resistance: "The Catholic Philippines" as Privileged Locus
Filipino Catholicism's social engagement offers a privileged locus for the critical analysis of power dynamics. This engagement has been forged within changing political contexts, including nearly 450 years of colonization, first Spanish and then American, and, since the end of World War II, fo...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
SCM Press
[2020]
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| In: |
Concilium
Year: 2020, Issue: 3, Pages: 105-117 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Philippines
/ Catholic church
/ Society
/ Power
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| IxTheo Classification: | CH Christianity and Society KBM Asia KDB Roman Catholic Church NCD Political ethics |
| Further subjects: | B
Collusion
B Power (Social sciences) B Power (Christian theology) B Religion & Politics B Philippines B Engagement (Philosophy) B Catholic Church B Eschatology |
| Summary: | Filipino Catholicism's social engagement offers a privileged locus for the critical analysis of power dynamics. This engagement has been forged within changing political contexts, including nearly 450 years of colonization, first Spanish and then American, and, since the end of World War II, formal democracy dominated by oligarchy and authoritarian leaders. Catholic groups and individuals among clerics, religious and laity have been often on both sides of political divides, either in collusion with or resistance against the ruling establishment. This essay's critical analysis transcends the collusion-resistance binary relations and provides a thick description of dynamics involving Filipino Catholicism's symbolic, institutional and allied powers. Born out of the interaction between Spanish Catholicism and native culture, the symbolic consists of the network of stories related to Christ's life, revered images and sacred rituals that frame individual and social experience outside of church control. The institutional resides in juridical entities of dioceses and parishes, ministries of religious communities, and church-affiliated lay groups. Often allied with other social actors, the interaction of these powers accounts for the differing forms of Catholicism's social engagement. In the end, three theological insights emerge from this analysis. First, the power dynamics behind social engagement is inclusive and diverse. Second, it underscores the historical yet eschatological nature of engagement. Third, discerning social engagement by all the faithful calls for a multidirectional interplay between the symbolic and the institutional in their specific historical mediations. |
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| ISSN: | 0010-5236 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Concilium
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