Vicente Sotto Lecture 2024 January
“Bethlehem to Golgotha: Santo Niño de Cebu and Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno in Filipino collective memory and vision”
Mr. Jason A. Baguia.
ABSTRACT
The Catholic Church in the Philippines has been unequivocal in catechizing its publics about the oneness of the Child Jesus and Jesus on the Way of the Cross although a comparative approach to studying popular devotion to Jesus under these two titles has also emerged. Given these developments, lay Filipino Christians need to flesh out the implications of the two devotions on Cebuano and the wider Philippine socio-culture in view of the signs of the times. The reflection required cannot be reserved to the Church hierarchy and yet is a must since charity, according to Catholic social teaching, must not remain isolated or independent exercises reserved for a devout elite. This lecture aims to raise the momentum for public discourse and social action proceeding from veneration of the Santo Niño and Nazareno, inspired by the thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI for whom the Church must not substitute the political sphere and the State in the work of building a more just world, and by Pope Francis, for whom love and friendship must animate society’s pilgrimage (see Deus Caritas Est and Fratelli Tutti).
Date: January 31, 2024
Category: Vicente Sotto Lecture Series