This study theologises on the Urban Poor Women and children with Academics for Reaching and Delivering on UNSDGs in the Philippines (UPWARD-UP) Project research team’s collaboration with the Alliance of Peoples’ Organisation Along the Manggahan Floodway (Alliance), Philippines. We posit that the theological process of seejudge-act, enhanced with evaluate-celebrate/ritualise, using feminist biblical characterisation in interpreting Matthew 15:21-28, serves as a spiritual resource for Christians working for the urban poor realisation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The Canaanite woman challenged Jesus’ identity and mission impacting onChristology and ecclesiology. This characterisation makes her a vital example and companion for the Alliance womenleaders in achieving their prioritised SDGs (1 - No Poverty; 3 - Health and Well-being [in relation with the Environment];4 - Quality Education, and 16 - Justice, Peace and Strong Institutions seen from the lens of UNSDG 5 - Gender Equality) during the pandemic and beyond.
{"title":"#CHOOSETOCHALLENGE: COVID-19, COMMUNITY RESEARCH, AND THE CANAANITE WOMAN","authors":"M. Ibita, M. Ibita","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6375","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6375","url":null,"abstract":"This study theologises on the Urban Poor Women and children with Academics for Reaching and Delivering on UNSDGs in the Philippines (UPWARD-UP) Project research team’s collaboration with the Alliance of Peoples’ Organisation Along the Manggahan Floodway (Alliance), Philippines. We posit that the theological process of seejudge-act, enhanced with evaluate-celebrate/ritualise, using feminist biblical characterisation in interpreting Matthew 15:21-28, serves as a spiritual resource for Christians working for the urban poor realisation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The Canaanite woman challenged Jesus’ identity and mission impacting onChristology and ecclesiology. This characterisation makes her a vital example and companion for the Alliance womenleaders in achieving their prioritised SDGs (1 - No Poverty; 3 - Health and Well-being [in relation with the Environment];4 - Quality Education, and 16 - Justice, Peace and Strong Institutions seen from the lens of UNSDG 5 - Gender Equality) during the pandemic and beyond.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46783743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article examines the vulnerability of frontline cleaning workers and domestic helpers during the COVID-19pandemic and how they empower themselves by joining a community in which they can support each other. Employing surveys by non-governmental organisations, particularly those in Hong Kong, as well as my own interviews and observations, I examine the situation of the frontline workers and discuss the moral principles and conditions for upholding women’s dignity and well-being, based on the capability approach of feminist philosopher Martha Nussbaum. I argue that emphasising women’s moral agency and giving a voice to women themselves through women collectives are important in empowering them and building a life-giving community among women, especially during and after the pandemic. In addition, the notions of political charity and social friendship in Catholic social thought, particularly the social encyclical Fratelli Tutti, and the multi-axial analysis in post-colonial feminist theology are useful in upholding women’s dignity and moral agency in care situations. Examples of social friendship are provided.
{"title":"CARING FOR WOMEN ON THE FRONTLINES: ENHANCING WOMEN WORKERS’ CAPABILITIES AND BUILDING SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP","authors":"M. Yuen","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6311","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6311","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the vulnerability of frontline cleaning workers and domestic helpers during the COVID-19pandemic and how they empower themselves by joining a community in which they can support each other. Employing surveys by non-governmental organisations, particularly those in Hong Kong, as well as my own interviews and observations, I examine the situation of the frontline workers and discuss the moral principles and conditions for upholding women’s dignity and well-being, based on the capability approach of feminist philosopher Martha Nussbaum. I argue that emphasising women’s moral agency and giving a voice to women themselves through women collectives are important in empowering them and building a life-giving community among women, especially during and after the pandemic. In addition, the notions of political charity and social friendship in Catholic social thought, particularly the social encyclical Fratelli Tutti, and the multi-axial analysis in post-colonial feminist theology are useful in upholding women’s dignity and moral agency in care situations. Examples of social friendship are provided.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48956918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article investigates the escalation of anti-northeastern racism during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, by analysing the existing and underlying forms of domination faced by north-eastern Indian populations living in the metropolitan cities of India. It particularly investigates the intersectionalities of caste and race, gender, LGBT, and the older form of anti-Chinese sentiment called the yellowperil myth. It explores Mary Magdalene’s life and reflects on the public and cultural narrative, while simultaneously highlighting the lived experiences of north-eastern women in Indian cities. The article compares the experience of Mary Magdalene with that of the indigenous northeastern women. It asks how Mary, if she were slant-eyed, negotiated the humiliation and discrimination of race and gender, and how the figure of Mary can help challenge the public myth and offer a site of resistance for north-eastern women, many of whom are Christian.
{"title":"SEXY CHINKIES IN INDIAN CITIES: CAN WE EMBRACE A SLANT-EYED MARY?","authors":"I. Aye","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6146","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates the escalation of anti-northeastern racism during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, by analysing the existing and underlying forms of domination faced by north-eastern Indian populations living in the metropolitan cities of India. It particularly investigates the intersectionalities of caste and race, gender, LGBT, and the older form of anti-Chinese sentiment called the yellowperil myth. It explores Mary Magdalene’s life and reflects on the public and cultural narrative, while simultaneously highlighting the lived experiences of north-eastern women in Indian cities. The article compares the experience of Mary Magdalene with that of the indigenous northeastern women. It asks how Mary, if she were slant-eyed, negotiated the humiliation and discrimination of race and gender, and how the figure of Mary can help challenge the public myth and offer a site of resistance for north-eastern women, many of whom are Christian.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44579985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The pandemic was an opportunity for authoritarian regimes to intensify militarism and cultivate fear, resulting in the disablement of the most vulnerable in society. Fear dissipates when basic freedoms are at stake. People who once were afraid have learned to transgress, “to step across”, because they just had enough of the Duterte regime’s deception. In light of this context, I argue, like Michel Foucault, that transgression can be a positive notion and not opposed to transcendence. In fact, it belongs to similar semantic cluster. An interruption can be viewed not as seeking attention, but rather as a cessation that aims for communion. Drawing from the lived experiences of persons with disabilities, I suggest a reversal of the negative perception of interruption to be incarnational, which can pave the way to a theology of transgression that is liberative.
{"title":"MILITARISM AND FEAR IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC IN THE PHILIPPINES: TOWARDS A THEOLOGY OF TRANSGRESSION","authors":"Prof. K.C. Meneses","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6170","url":null,"abstract":"The pandemic was an opportunity for authoritarian regimes to intensify militarism and cultivate fear, resulting in the disablement of the most vulnerable in society. Fear dissipates when basic freedoms are at stake. People who once were afraid have learned to transgress, “to step across”, because they just had enough of the Duterte regime’s deception. In light of this context, I argue, like Michel Foucault, that transgression can be a positive notion and not opposed to transcendence. In fact, it belongs to similar semantic cluster. An interruption can be viewed not as seeking attention, but rather as a cessation that aims for communion. Drawing from the lived experiences of persons with disabilities, I suggest a reversal of the negative perception of interruption to be incarnational, which can pave the way to a theology of transgression that is liberative.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70202808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article focuses on sex abuse and abuse of power in Catholic schools in the Philippines. I argue that these schools should ground policy design and decision-making on the relational safety model developed by Maria Carmen B. La Viña and her colleagues at the Catholic Safeguarding Institute, and on a holistic pastoral approach developed by Nila Bermisa. The latter offers a life-giving vision on what to aim for in dealing with abuse as Christians, namely renewal and a movement toward fullness of life. I show that failure to reference the work of these two women is connected to the commission of egregious mistakes such as promoting silence and secrecy that further harm victims, partiality toward abusers, perpetuating organisational structures that correlate with abuse, and failing to listen to women who point to a connection between abuse and patriarchal Catholic culture.
本文关注菲律宾天主教学校中的性虐待和滥用职权问题。我认为,这些学校的政策设计和决策应该以天主教保护研究所的Maria Carmen B.La Viña和她的同事开发的关系安全模型为基础,并以Nila Bermisa开发的整体田园方法为基础。后者提供了一个赋予生命的愿景,即作为基督徒应对虐待的目标,即更新和走向充实生活的运动。我表明,没有提及这两位女性的工作与犯下的严重错误有关,比如提倡沉默和保密,这会进一步伤害受害者,偏袒施虐者,使与虐待相关的组织结构永久化,以及没有听取那些指出虐待与天主教父权文化之间联系的女性的意见。
{"title":"BECOMING WHOLE AGAIN: THE GOAL OF WOMEN’S STRUGGLE AGAINST SEX ABUSE IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES","authors":"J.A. Cleofas","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6179","url":null,"abstract":"This article focuses on sex abuse and abuse of power in Catholic schools in the Philippines. I argue that these schools should ground policy design and decision-making on the relational safety model developed by Maria Carmen B. La Viña and her colleagues at the Catholic Safeguarding Institute, and on a holistic pastoral approach developed by Nila Bermisa. The latter offers a life-giving vision on what to aim for in dealing with abuse as Christians, namely renewal and a movement toward fullness of life. I show that failure to reference the work of these two women is connected to the commission of egregious mistakes such as promoting silence and secrecy that further harm victims, partiality toward abusers, perpetuating organisational structures that correlate with abuse, and failing to listen to women who point to a connection between abuse and patriarchal Catholic culture.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49570086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article assesses the adequacy of the church’s responses to women currently and formerly in conflict with the law in the Philippines and offers feminist theological reflections on the need for gender- and culturally sensitive pastoral services for them in a time of pandemic. Drawing upon case studies and interviews, this paper examines the lived experiences and social worlds of women who currently occupy or formerly held the status of persons deprived of liberty. The researcher discusses the common themes and nuances in the issues and challenges they confront from behind bars and in free society, and their struggles for survival throughout the pandemic. This paper also examines their service needs and, in the case of those released from the penitentiary, the salient factors that contribute to the risk of recidivism. The researcher discusses the implications of the issues and service needs of justiceinvolved women for building life-giving communities.
{"title":"THE EXPERIENCES OF CURRENTLY AND FORMERLY INCARCERATED WOMEN IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC: IMPLICATIONS FOR LIFE-GIVING COMMUNITIES","authors":"D. Veloso","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6559","url":null,"abstract":"This article assesses the adequacy of the church’s responses to women currently and formerly in conflict with the law in the Philippines and offers feminist theological reflections on the need for gender- and culturally sensitive pastoral services for them in a time of pandemic. Drawing upon case studies and interviews, this paper examines the lived experiences and social worlds of women who currently occupy or formerly held the status of persons deprived of liberty. The researcher discusses the common themes and nuances in the issues and challenges they confront from behind bars and in free society, and their struggles for survival throughout the pandemic. This paper also examines their service needs and, in the case of those released from the penitentiary, the salient factors that contribute to the risk of recidivism. The researcher discusses the implications of the issues and service needs of justiceinvolved women for building life-giving communities.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47711182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article accords epistemic privilege to comfort women as embodiment of the perversion of hospitality. It draws aparallelism between their surviving the pandemics of World War II as forcibly recruited sex slaves and COVID-19.Through their lived experience as survivors of pandemics, a feminist-postcolonial theology of radical hospitality firstcritiques biblical narratives of men’s hospitality to men. The parallel stories of Lot’s offer of his virgin daughters (Gen. 19)and the Levite’s offer of his concubine (Judges 19) expose, first, the hierarchisation of male guests over women, asproperty of men, and secondly, the inviolable creed of hospitality conferred on men by men, that is sustained by the cultural code that marks women’s bodies as violable. Secondly, the article argues that extending hospitality to comfort women (for example, war reparations) goes beyond the “law of ekstasis”, as touted in Fratelli Tutti, as comfort women themselves embody love, reciprocity, and inclusion.
{"title":"COMFORT WOMEN SURVIVING PANDEMICS: FROM ERASURE TO EMBODIED HOPE TOWARDS A FEMINIST-POSTCOLONIAL THEOLOGY OF RADICAL HOSPITALITY","authors":"S. Bong","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6138","url":null,"abstract":"The article accords epistemic privilege to comfort women as embodiment of the perversion of hospitality. It draws aparallelism between their surviving the pandemics of World War II as forcibly recruited sex slaves and COVID-19.Through their lived experience as survivors of pandemics, a feminist-postcolonial theology of radical hospitality firstcritiques biblical narratives of men’s hospitality to men. The parallel stories of Lot’s offer of his virgin daughters (Gen. 19)and the Levite’s offer of his concubine (Judges 19) expose, first, the hierarchisation of male guests over women, asproperty of men, and secondly, the inviolable creed of hospitality conferred on men by men, that is sustained by the cultural code that marks women’s bodies as violable. Secondly, the article argues that extending hospitality to comfort women (for example, war reparations) goes beyond the “law of ekstasis”, as touted in Fratelli Tutti, as comfort women themselves embody love, reciprocity, and inclusion.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47306214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Prof. Stephanie Ann, Puen, R.J.M. Sanchez Prof, Rachel Joyce Marie, Sanchez
Women are among the many vulnerable groups that are severely affected by the pandemic: All over the world, women have been hit harder by the pandemic, leading some to call the global recession a “shecession”. “Shecession” refers to “the disproportionate impact of a pandemic recession on working women”, which leads to greater gender inequality. Working women have been gravely affected by the pandemic, but their situation is often justified as “necessary” in helping businesses survive. We argue for a caring justice framework, using Fratelli Tutti and care ethics in navigating the tensions between the individual and the community, analysing and transforming the way in which work is structured in the Philippines at present.
{"title":"WOMEN’S NEEDS VS. ECONOMIC SURVIVAL DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: NAVIGATING THIS TENSION USING CARE AND JUSTICE","authors":"Prof. Stephanie Ann, Puen, R.J.M. Sanchez Prof, Rachel Joyce Marie, Sanchez","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6178","url":null,"abstract":"Women are among the many vulnerable groups that are severely affected by the pandemic: All over the world, women have been hit harder by the pandemic, leading some to call the global recession a “shecession”. “Shecession” refers to “the disproportionate impact of a pandemic recession on working women”, which leads to greater gender inequality. Working women have been gravely affected by the pandemic, but their situation is often justified as “necessary” in helping businesses survive. We argue for a caring justice framework, using Fratelli Tutti and care ethics in navigating the tensions between the individual and the community, analysing and transforming the way in which work is structured in the Philippines at present.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45428117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article argues and explores how popular Catholic piety can serve as an agent to create life-giving communitas forwomen in Macao, China. This research uses the narratives of six Catholic women about how their immersion in various public and private devotional practices creates solidarity and communities that are inclusive, empowering, and nurturing during the outbreak of COVID-19. Besides petitioning their long-lasting devotional images such as St Roch and Our Lady of Fatima, women learn and move on to a new model of online and live stream religious response and ritual innovations at the time of coronavirus in Macao. The digitisation of gathering strengthens the global connection among women to the rest of the world, shapinga new form of devotional culture and community ties that are not necessarily institutionalised. Devotional practices act as a spiritual oasis, personally and communally, for women coming together and bring hope, strength, and consolation to this unprecedented time.
{"title":"PANDEMIC OASIS: POPULAR RELIGIOSITIES AS WOMEN’S LIFE-GIVING COMMUNITAS","authors":"K. Chan","doi":"10.38140/at.v35i1.6374","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1.6374","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues and explores how popular Catholic piety can serve as an agent to create life-giving communitas forwomen in Macao, China. This research uses the narratives of six Catholic women about how their immersion in various public and private devotional practices creates solidarity and communities that are inclusive, empowering, and nurturing during the outbreak of COVID-19. Besides petitioning their long-lasting devotional images such as St Roch and Our Lady of Fatima, women learn and move on to a new model of online and live stream religious response and ritual innovations at the time of coronavirus in Macao. The digitisation of gathering strengthens the global connection among women to the rest of the world, shapinga new form of devotional culture and community ties that are not necessarily institutionalised. Devotional practices act as a spiritual oasis, personally and communally, for women coming together and bring hope, strength, and consolation to this unprecedented time.","PeriodicalId":39489,"journal":{"name":"Acta Theologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49075284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}