Mary in Asia and Oceania

Dagupan City—More than 120 theologians, academics, religious, seminarians and students mostly from the University of Santo Tomas and from other parts of Luzon converged in this northern city since Sunday for the 3rd Asia-Oceania Mariological Conference. I owe the privilege of joining the gathering to Sister Isabell Nauman, a secular nun of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, whom I met in a separate convention held last month.

I have always been interested in the popular affection and filial devotion to Mary. The opportunity to gather insights from noted Mariologists was too hard to resist, even if philosophy, theology, and anthropology are not really up my alley.

The conference was held under the guidance of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan led by Archbishop Socrates Villegas in collaboration with the Dominican Order and the University of Santo Tomas Ecclesiastical Faculties.

The conference aimed “to promote a Mariology in the Asia-Oceania region that is solidly biblico-theological and authentically inculturated to the two continents.”

“It wishes to put the same Mariological study at the service of the Universal Church celebrating the Year of Faith. Furthermore, it intends to contribute to the pastoral thrust of New Evangelization being promoted by the Church invoking Mary as the guidepost of New Evangelization,” according to documents distributed by conference organizers.

The conference consisted of four days of biblico-theological reflections on the theme, “Mary: Woman of Faith.” The daily sessions followed the seven biblical incidents when Mary spoke in the Gospels and were presented in the context of the Catholic faithful’s devotion to the Virgin of Manaoag.

We went to Manaoag on Day 1 of the conference to attend Sunday Mass in the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, affectionately called Apo Baket by local devotees. It was my first time in this pilgrimage town, a 30-minute ride from Dagupan City and the flurry of pilgrims going up the shrine reminded me of Cebuano piety during the feast of the Señor Santo Niño and Marian feasts.

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The 3rd AOMC touched on theological trends in Mariology. Fr. Johann Roten from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio set the tone when he declared that, “You don’t bring Mary to the Philippines. You receive her in this country.” The statement framed his reflections on the topic, “Mary: Woman of Faith, its Biblico-Theological Foundations in relation to New Evangelization.”

The gathering also featured Sister Isabell Naumann, ISSM from Australia who talked about “The Immacultae as the fully redeemed person and model for the followers of Christ.” Sister Isabell, together with Sister Celia Chua, IMC from Taiwan and Sister Luca Risuko IKA, F.S. from Japan are considered “veterans” of Asia-Oceania Mariological conferences because they had been featured in two previous Mariology meetings held in Tagaytay City in 2009 and in Lipa, Batangas in 2011.

Other speakers included Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, DD, of Lipa, Fr. Gregory Bartosik, OFM Conventual from Poland, Fr. Emilio Platti, O.P., from the Catholic University of Louvain in Cairo, Egypt, Fr. Robini Marianto from Indonesia, Fr. Edgar Javier, SVD and Fr. Jose Antonio Aureada, O.P.

The conference is notable because it drew the participation of representatives from various Christian communions such as the Orthodox, Methodist and Lutheran Churches. Ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue framed their attendance and the subsequent interaction was rather engaging. As we know, some of these churches do not extend to Mary the importance that Catholics give to the Mother of Jesus so the subsequent open forum was very engaging.

Archbishop Luis Cardinal Tagle of Manila, and Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ, of the Loyola House of Studies were earlier included in the distinguished roster of speakers but were not able to make it due to health and family issues.

What I anticipated to be a tedious gathering turned out to be very interesting because the good Archbishop Soc Villegas and co-workers in UST’s OP community managed to fill up the hectic schedules with some cultural treats.

For example, upon our arrival in Dagupan City Saturday night, we were warmly received by Archbishop Villegas in his official residence, a stately stone and wood structure reminiscent of the Spanish colonial era. A group of young people welcomed us with a cultural dance and then we helped ourselves to a sumptuous dinner.

Delegates were also given the opportunity to visit the neighboring town of Calasiao, to the beautiful church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul and here we were once again feted to a night of delightful food, good music and cultural walk-throughs in the baroque church that was established by Dominican missionaries in 1588.

I wrote this article yesterday, April 17, 2013 as the event drew to a close, right on the glorious feast of Our Lady the Holy Rosary of Manaoag. The delegates are set to attend the fiesta Mass in the afternoon to be officiated by Arcbishop Socrates Villegas.

I will be writing more about the conference but for now, I just would like to extend my gratitude to event organizers for the great opportunity and wonderful time.