Scientia - The International Journal on the Liberal Arts

Beyond Borders: Towards a Theology of ‘Synodality’

2024-03-31T06:58:36-05:00

Pope Francis’ call to pave the way for a synodal Church is revolutionary. While ‘synodality’ has long been a promising Church trajectory, it disrupts and challenges the current status quo in local churches. Moreover, the process of ‘synodality’ is transformative and enriching as it fosters greater engagement of the people at the peripheries of the Church’s life and mission.

People in the margins are often perceived as passive participants in the life of the Church and, as it were, on the receiving end. However, the Church’s plans, thrusts, and decisions, whether on a personal level or socio-political and economic affairs, have always involved active and influential parish members and organizations. The ‘influential’ constitutes the majority’s voice in church ministries, activities, and projects. On the other hand, the voices of the underprivileged carry, if any, little weight in the discussion.

This paper critically examined avenues for dialogue initiated by the local churches for the synod, allowing the marginalized to sit at the discussion table. It scrutinized a ‘synodal’ Church as it unveiled the mental structures that create categories of marginalization. In the hope of appropriating ‘synodality’ into authentic forms of encounter, solidarity, and dialogue, Koselleck’s ‘space of experience’ and ‘horizon of expectation’ brought into light female narratives in the ‘synodal’ discourse, enabling the process of becoming a ‘synodal’ Church, a desired horizon of the future.

Indigenous/Local Knowledge, Anitism, and Sustainable Development: Challenges and Interventions in Preservation of Indigenous Rights and Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSPs)

2024-03-31T06:58:27-05:00

This study, which is anchored in anitism, shows how indigenous knowledge from the plain, mountain range, and some coastal areas of the Philippines makes a big difference in promoting sustainable development. Challenges and interventions in preserving IKSP were also discussed in the study. It was done through careful analysis of relevant literature with the aid of an unstructured interview. The study revealed that local knowledge and practices relevant to indigenous belief systems contribute to climate change adaptation and preservation of the natural environment. In addition, concerted efforts among the academe, government, and indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) on issues and challenges surrounding the preservation of natural resources and IKSPs were found beneficial for a more effective policy formulation and project management.

Faithfulness to Faithfulness: The Compass of Spiritual Reading in the Letters of Saint Paul

2024-03-31T06:58:18-05:00

This paper is intended for the spiritual reading of St. Paul’s Letter. It investigates the dynamics and movements in the relationship between Divine and human reality. For the Divine reality, it investigates God’s Hesed in the covenantal promise, particularly with Abraham, and its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who will come on the last days. In human reality, the Shema and commandments are explored together with Emunah and Hineni as the human response to God’s faithfulness. Also, it investigates the tradition of zealousness for God, having no idols, and living a moral life. The key to human reality is conformity to Jesus Christ and having faith like that of Jesus in the Father, through which there is justification and participation. Maranatha is the human disposition to the parousia of the Lord. Finally, the paper investigates the eschatological dimension of One God, One People, and One Future: the new creation, new heaven and earth, new mind, and new ways of relating called the Church.

Statelessness in The Philippines: A Contextual Analysis

2024-03-31T06:58:08-05:00

The idea that human beings have inherent dignity, which requires respect, has been generally recognized as true and that the task of protecting basic human rights borne out of this inherent dignity has been equally recognized as one that needs to be undertaken collectively and collaboratively by the international community. This is reflected by the different international conventions relating to the protection of human rights adopted and acceded to by different States. However, despite the existence of international mechanisms towards ensuring that human rights are properly protected, without distinction as to any socio-cultural nuances, accounts of human rights violation throughout history and across different niches has remained prevalent.

In particular, the plight of stateless persons, who are suffering or are vulnerable to suffer from significant discrimination as regards their capacity to properly enjoy and exercise basic human rights, has garnered international attention throughout the years and has been regarded as an international humanitarian crisis that require swift and comprehensive response. In consonance thereto, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness were adopted and acceded to by different countries.

The Philippines is a Contracting Party to these international conventions. Throughout the years, the country has been a host to hundreds of thousands of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness (collectively known as persons of concerns of POCs). In compliance with its obligations under the aforementioned international conventions, the Philippines has adopted a number of domestic measures and policies for the purpose of providing protection to POCs.

However, while PH has adopted certain domestic measures to provide protection to POCs, the current state of the protective mechanisms afforded to them has negatively magnified institutional gaps in the implementation and fulfillment of the country’s obligations under the relevant international conventions. It is in this context that this research will seek to propose for the enhancement of the protective mechanisms being provided to POCs in the Philippines, such as through the enactment of a comprehensive law for such purpose, in compliance with the country’s obligations under the relevant international conventions.

Ginhawa and the Interpretation of Colonialism

2024-03-31T06:57:58-05:00

The majority of historians and teachers of history tend to believe that it was the Propaganda of the educated elite that led to the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Reynaldo Ileto already made a powerful critique on such perspective by analyzing the mentalité of the pobres y ignorantes, and showed that they indeed possessed a certain worldview that was far different from that of the Ilustrados of the Propaganda Movement. Ileto, however, remained within the limits of the Catholic ideology and its appropriation by the masses in the 19^th century. This paper aims to study ginhawa, a Filipino concept, as both a concept and an ideology. The paper argues that ginhawa was used by the natives in interpreting the workings of colonialism.

Yoga and Benedictine Mindfulness: An Alternative Physio-Spiritual Intervention Towards Restoration of Good Health and Well-Being in the Academe

2024-04-15T07:31:36-05:00

Many factors are essentially affecting the quality of work and studies in the academe. Deficiency in those factors is inimical to good health and well-being. It includes not just physical injury or disease, but also depression, stress, loneliness, anxieties, and even loss of meaning and purpose in life, which are considered detrimental to working and learning ability. All interventions must be considered just to restore the good health and well-being of workers and students. Using the digital archival method, in-hand data analysis revealed that Yoga and Benedictine mindfulness can become alternative physio-spiritual interventions according to their respective unique traditions. It revealed as well that both disciplinal practices in relevant areas like ethical imperatives, external and internal expressions, focus, aim, time allotment, and benefits, shared elements that can contribute efficaciously to the restoration of good health and well-being of students and workers in the academe. Though, as an intervention, it requires further scientific revelation, at least by yogic and Benedictine tradition, if the practices are done consistently, their assumed benefits are not just temporal but lifelong.

The Synodal Process in the Dock: A Thematic Analysis of Grey Literature

2024-04-15T07:31:25-05:00

This article aimed to describe the contours of the current discourse on the synodal process from the perspectives of journalists. To achieve this goal, we collected a large sample of grey literature (N= 235) from six online Catholic newspapers. The common ground unraveled by this study can lead to a fusion of horizons between the opposing sides on how and why the synodal process may allow the church to initiate needed structural reforms and create a synodal culture.