500 Years of Christianity and the Global Filipino/a

The year 2021 marked the five-hundredth anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines. With over 90% of the Filipin@s (Filipino/as) in the country and more than eight million around the world identifying as Christian, they are a significant force reshaping global Christianity. The fifth centenary called for celebration, reflection, and critique. This book represents the voices of theologians in the Philippines, the United States, Australia, and around the world examining Christianity in the Philippines through a postcolonial theological lens that suggests the desire to go beyond the colonial in all its contemporary manifestations. Part 1, “Rethinking the Encounters,” focuses on introducing the context of Christianity’s arrival in the archipelago and its effect on its peoples. Part 2, “Reappropriation, Resistance, and Decolonization,” grapples with the enduring presence of coloniality in Filipin@ religious practices. It also celebrates the ways Christianity has been critically and creatively reimagined. Cristina Lledo Gomez is the Presentation Sisters Lecturer at BBI-The Australian Institute of Theological Education (BBI-TAITE) and a Research Fellow for the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Her role at BBI-TAITE is directed toward promoting women’s spiritualities, feminist theologies, and ecotheologies. Agnes M. Brazal is a Full Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Education at De La Salle University Manila, The Philippines, former President of DaKaTeo (Catholic Theological Society of the Philippines), and author/editor of eleven books that include A Theology of Southeast Asia: Liberation-Postcolonial Ethics in the Philippines (2019). Ma. Marilou S. Ibita is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Education at De La Salle University, The Philippines, and a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Her research centers around biblical literature and Jewish-Christian dialogue.