philippine studies Ateneo de Manila University • Loyola Heights, Quezon City • 1108 Philippines Mapping Religious and Civil Spaces in Traditional and Charismatic Christianities in the Philippines Jose Mario C. Francisco, S.J. Philippine Studies vol. 58 nos. 1 & 2 (2010): 185–221 Copyright © Ateneo de Manila University Philippine Studies is published by the Ateneo de Manila University. Contents may not be copied or sent via email or other means to multiple sites and posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s written permission. Users may download and print articles for individual, noncom- mercial use only. However, unless prior permission has been obtained, you may not download an entire issue of a journal, or download multiple copies of articles. Please contact the publisher for any further use of this work at [email protected]. or [email protected]. http://www.philippinestudies.net JOSE MARIO C. FRANCISCO, S.J. Mapping Religious and Civil Spaces in Traditional and Charismatic Christianities in the Philippines This study of Filipino Christianity focuses on typical constructions of religious space as represented by four constituencies or groups: (a) traditional Catholicism, which defines religious space as enclosed and geographically bound; (b) alternative sects on Mount Banahaw in Southern Luzon, which have moved away from this enclosed space to localize Christianity; (c) Couples for Christ, a Catholic charismatic group, which extends religious space into the household and the wider world; and (d) El Shaddai, a charismatic group founded by Mike Velarde, which incorporates mass media into its religious space. These constructions of religious space shape each group’s presence and practice in civil space. Keywords: Christianity • saCred spaCe • Christian soCial involvement • Filipino CharismatiC groups PHILIPPINE STUDIES 58, NOS. 1-2 (2010) 185–221 © Ateneo de Manila University eligions and religious groups stake their claims on sites and emergence of charismatic Christianity. Much interesting and groundbreak- territories intimately linked to their identity and status. This ing work has been done on different aspects of religion in the Philippines, insight from the pioneering work of Mircea Eliade spawned but none has taken the study of sacred space as its central focus. numerous studies on how sacred space is conceived by par- This exploratory study of the theme of space in Filipino Christianity pre- ticular religious entities and how these conceptions relate to supposes Bourdieu’s (1991) view of sociology as a “social topology.” Accord- Rdimensions and issues central to these entities. ing to this view, “the social world can be represented in the form of a (multi- Coster and Spicer (2005, 1), editors of a recent anthology on early dimensional) space”—both a place where “agents and groups of agents are modern Europe, observe that “there has been a huge body of work on this thus defined by theirrelative positions” and “a field of forces, in other words, subject generated by anthropologists, sociologists, geographers, students of as a set of objective power relations imposed on all those who enter this field” architecture, archeologists and even by historians of other eras, stretching (ibid., 229–30). from ancient Greece to modern America.” They explain the fundamental With this as background, the study focuses on constructions of sacred significance of sacred space for all the essays in the anthology thus: space by particular religious institutions and the implications for their social engagement in “civil space,” the realm where diverse communities, groups, The ways in which space was created, and re-created are an obvious and individuals promote their interests from their respective social locations means of investigating how change was achieved, or, just as impor- and seek to forge the common good. The term “sacred/religious space” tantly, how limited was its extent. Space is also much more than a refers to where these institutions locate their religious practice and identity. physical issue; what is of chief concern to most of the historians cur- Thus its dynamic is ad intra, that is, toward their self-understanding. At the rently working in this field is not the purely architectural utilization of same time, this study suggests that an institution’s construction of sacred space, but what that can tell us about the mentalité of the people of space shapes how it presents itself ad extra, the ways it engages issues in civil Reformation Europe: how it reflected and reinforced their understand- space. ing of sanctity, divinity and themselves. (ibid., 3) In particular, the present article maps typical constructions of religious and civil spaces exemplified by traditional Catholicism, groups on Mount Because of its significance, sacred space touches on the wide-ranging Banahaw, and two recently formed Catholic charismatic groups. Like car- issues discussed in the essays; among them are the distinction between tographical representations, these four constructions do not render each “sacred” and “profane,” the architectural requirements for a church, territo- location in full detail but are culled from historical developments as well rial disputes between Catholics and Protestants, and the appropriate location as recent empirical research on Philippine Christianity, especially Kessler for burials. These essays illustrate how the study of scared space provides and Rüland’s comprehensive survey on the charismatic movement (Kessler a fruitful path toward a deeper understanding of religion and its attendant 2006; Kessler and Rüland 2008). dynamics within a particular social context. They also suggest why religious The first four sections of the essay describe each group’s construction of spaces often become sites of contention and negotiation within religions and religious space. The last two sections explore the implications of these dif- religious groups. ferent constructions of religious space. The fifth focuses on how traditional This article follows a similar path as those in the Coster and Spicer Christianity and the three other groups engage social realities and issues on collection by exploring the Philippine religious landscape. On this diverse the basis of their construction of sacred space. It shows how their particular terrain, one sees the persistence of traditional religion; the dominance of social approaches and projects are logical and coherent consequences of Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism in the lowlands; the influence their religious self-understanding. The last section discusses emerging issues of Islam in particular regions; the presence of Confucian, Buddhist, and and points to how this approach contributes to a better understanding of even Hindu practices among certain ethnic groups; and more recently the Christianity in the Philippines. 186 PHILIPPINE STUDIES 58, NOS. 1-2 (2010) FRANCISCO / RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL spaces 187 Enclosing Space: Traditional Filipino Catholicism Fray Juan de Plascencia, Father Custodian of the Order of Saint The first construction of religious space as enclosed is characteristic of tradi- Francis, informs me that in that province many of the natives live in tional Filipino Catholicism. It took root during the long history of Spanish scattered settlements far from each other, and that the sacraments colonization and is institutionalized through the universal practice of defin- cannot be administered to them unless they come together in larger ing church jurisdiction in geographical terms. As a defense against Protestant communities to build towns for themselves . This having been duly denominations in the 1950s, it propagated the self-identification of tradition- considered, you are hereby ordered . to call into consultation Fray al Filipino Catholics as Katoliko sarado (literally, closed Catholics) and of Juan de Garrovillas, the Father Guardian of that city, and jointly with their nation as “the only Catholic country in Asia” (in spite of East Timor). him decide what towns are to be formed and what shall be the size At present, it continues to be operative in delineating the sharp boundaries and plan of the churches to be built. (Schumacher 1979, 39) that distinguish traditional Catholicism which correspond to what Kessler and Rüland’s 2003 survey refers to separately as “sociocultural religiosity,” Formed to transplant Spanish Catholicism, these towns were thus created that is, “religion as a framework for social relations and societal order,” and according to the image and likeness of Spanish Catholic settlements. “orthodox Catholic religiosity,” consisting of “genuine Catholic content” Towns were established in the cuadricula or grid pattern characteristic and characterized by “belief in the intercessory role of the Virgin Mary, the of Spanish urbanization. Javellana (2003, 2) describes this pattern, which existence of purgatory, receiving confession” (Kessler 2006, 566–68). originated from ancient Roman settlements, with intersecting main streets This construction of religious space as enclosed is rooted historically called the cardo and decumanus: in the geographical expansion of Christianity—its recognition by Constan- tine (c. 313) allowing it to come out in the open and build churches in In the Spanish tradition, refined by theories and proposals of renais- public places throughout the empire (Pounds 2005, 7). This historical pro- sance minds, the equivalent of the cardo and decumanus (the Calle cess led to the subsequent establishment