RST 36.2 (2017) 139–153 Religious Studies and Theology (print) ISSN 0829-2922 https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.35155 Religious Studies and Theology (online) ISSN 1747-5414 Maria Clara in the Twenty-first Century: The Uneasy Discourse between the Cult of the Virgin Mary and Filipino Women’s Lived Realities JEANE C. PERACULLO DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
[email protected] ABSTRACT The Virgin Mary looms large as the image of a “good” Filipina or Fili- pino woman in both cultural and religious landscapes in the Philippines. A “good Filipina” imagery points specifically to the weak or passive woman, who is represented by a satirical character named Maria Clara. The Roman Catholic Church reinforces such imagery to highlight the Madonna-Whore dichotomy. However, in the twenty-first century, Filipino women have come to challenge the image of a good woman as weak and passive person. This paper explores the challenges that Filipinas face in their everyday lives, which call for a re-examination of the role of Catholic faith in their lived experiences. Keywords Filipina, rights, religion, gender Introduction A photograph, which appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on July 23, 2016, would become the haunting image of the human cost of the present administration’s “war on drugs.” A grieving woman cradled her slain partner, a rickshaw driver, and a suspected illegal drug peddler, who was killed in execution-style supposedly by vigilante killers. Raffy Lerma, who photographed the haunting scene, named it as “La Pieta,” an obvious reference to The Pieta by Michelangelo. Newly-elected President Rodrigo Duterte, in his first-ever State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, 2016 regarded the picture (and the reference to Pieta) as “melo- dramatic.” His precise words: “Then there you are, sprawled, and you are portrayed in a broadsheet like Mother Mary cradling the dead cadaver of Jesus Christ.