Refiguring the Ecclesiology of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines for Filipino Catholics

Abstract

The Second Plenary Counicl of the Philippines (PCP II) expresses one of the hopes and memories of Vatican II, which is to witness the emergence of world Church or the realization of the Church in a given place, time, and people. Guided by the query, “How do we live as Christians...in our situation of lights and shadows?,” the Council determined that the Church in the Philippines should be a Discipleship in Community. To understand the outcome of the Council, it helps to situate it within the broader movement during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, which saw the emergence of contextual theologies. The integration of the total human reality in doing local theology responds to the predicament of Asian theological associations during the said decades which struggled against the so-called “burden of the past” or the “petrified status quo,” referring to the western ecclesiological framework, which was viewed as hindrance in the building up of a truly local church. In light of all these, this paper proposes a refiguration of ecclesiology of PCP II. This article, looks into those experiences of Filipino Catholics where they can encounter the Church that was described by PCP II and proposes in view thereof, that our experience of sociality, e.g., bayanihan and pakikipag-kapwa, provide experiential structures that set in motion our initial experience and understanding of the Church.