A Theology of Southeast Asia: Liberation-Postcolonial Ethics in the Philippines by Brazal Agnes M

Author:Brazal, Agnes, M. [Brazal, Agnes, M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbis Books
Published: 2019-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

Reception of Bai Theology

We have so far elaborated five key characteristics of bai theologizing: (1) the shift from nationalist to postcolonial feminism; (2) reconstruction of feminist vernacular elements; (3) employment of narrative theology; (4) reading “close to the ground”; and (5) alliance with pro-feminist men.

How has bai theology been received by other women religious and by colleges, theological schools, and the church hierarchy in its three decades of development?

Women Religious

The initial impact of bai theology was strongest among women religious. We have already noted the formation of the Women and Gender Commission (WGC) to raise consciousness of women religious about issues affecting women, including prostitution and US military bases, sex tours, human trafficking, violence against women, and women’s status in the church. 52

Since 1997, with interest in vernacular liturgies growing, the WGC has been advancing the practice of indigenizing liturgies by incorporating the babaylan as special ancestors of Philippine women. It has also been training women religious in feminist interpretation of the Bible and in 2001 started a “Pastoral Ministry toward Healing of Sexually Abused Women.” One religious congregation allowed its old residence to house women victim survivors of clergy sexual abuse. This center was named Talitha Cum. 53

Women’s Colleges and Adult Education

Two colleges in the Philippines have significantly promoted women’s studies: Miriam College, formerly owned by the Maryknoll missionaries, and St. Scholastica’s College, run by Benedictine Sisters. Miriam College established a Women and Gender Institute in 2000, 54 and St. Scholastica’s College founded the Institute of Women’s Studies in 1985. Together with Assumption College, which is managed by the Religious of the Assumption, they organized a consortium of women’s colleges geared toward the formation of women leaders who will work for women’s empowerment and social transformation.

In particular, the Institute of Women’s Studies at St. Scholastica’s College has an intercultural program whose main achievement is “the training of hundreds of feminist leaders across Asia who are replicating the feminist training that they received from the Institute.” 55 As an introduction to gender issues, participants in their trainers’ training program make a pilgrimage to Mount Banahaw. 56 The institute also has a “Women and Ecology Wholeness Farm,” which demonstrates an alternative lifestyle that is environment-friendly, junk-free, and sustainable. It practices organic, biodiverse farming, and biogas-based waste management. Along a similar line, the Maryknoll Sisters at Miriam College have an Ecological Sanctuary.

On the level of basic ecclesial communities (BECs), the impact of bai theology is hardly felt except in BECs managed by women religious with a feminist orientation. In 2001, the Institute of Missiology (Aachen, Germany) conducted an international survey of small Christian communities on “Gender and Church: The Role of the Women.” 57 Based on survey results from interviews of women members conducted in five BECs from various parts of the Philippines, the following are the most important women’s issues: poverty and joblessness (listed by 44 percent of respondents), violence in the form of wife battery/verbal abuse (28 percent), sexual harassment/abuse (28 percent), women’s health (28 percent), marital conflicts/extramarital affairs/vices of

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