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The religion impact on social and economic aspects of the life (on example of the Roman Catholic church of the Philippines)
 
PIIS221979310008622-7-1
DOI10.37490/S221979310008622-7
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Olga A. Balabeykina 
Occupation: Associate Professor
Affiliation: Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics
Address: Russian Federation, St.Petersburg
Julia Kuznetsova
Occupation: Student
Affiliation: Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics
Address: Russian Federation, St.Petersburg
Journal namePskov Journal of Regional Studies
EditionIssue 3 (43)
Pages58-72
Abstract

In the article, the authors consider the territorial and administrative structure of the Philippine’s Roman Catholic Church and the factors of its transformation at the present stage in the context of the importance of the religious institution in the economic and social life of society. The purpose of the comprehensive study is to characterize the economic and social manifestations of the activities of the RCC and the role of this religious institution in the life of the state and Philippine society. With the use of mathematical and statistical methods adopted in regional studies, authors identifies the territorial transformation of the distribution of the cult infrastructure of Catholicism in the Philippines. The confessional space of the Philippines is developing according to a special model, where the role of the Church in society is great and the secular processes characteristic of the European population have not yet touched it, although some trends have emerged. With the help of the analysis of the reporting data published in English, the features of the confessional space of the country are revealed and the features of its functioning within its main component-the Roman Catholic Church-are analyzed. The authors conclude that the RCC in the Philippines is an influential institution that plays a significant role in different areas of the country's economy and contains prospects for expanding the field of its activities in this direction.

KeywordsPhilippines, religious organization, economic activity, Roman Catholic Church
Received19.05.2021
Publication date19.05.2021
Number of characters26636
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1 Introduction. In recent decades, various fields of Russian and foreign science have increasingly shown a high and steady interest in issues related to the study of the functioning of social institutions and other elements that form the confessional space of countries and regions [10; 16; 23; 24], etc. Since, as the researchers note, in our country in the 1990s, the "process of religious revival" was marked out in a variety of areas [11, p. 130], which continues to this day, the experience of organizing Church administrative management, especially the financial and social activities of Christian churches in foreign countries, is of scientific and practical interest to Russia.
2 Such research is particularly important for the Far East, where, according to the expert in this matter S. M. Dudarenok, the religious space is formed and developed according to a special model, much more actively accepting the doctrine of Western directions of Christianity than the population of the European part of the country [12].
3 Considering in their works aspects related to the religious space, scholars mainly pay attention to religious characteristics, the history of proliferation, the basics of the right state of religions in the state [7; 10; 11; 13; 15; 16; 19] etc., and the economic activities of religious associations, the administrative and territorial organization and the system of governance of religious institutions, their social role in society and the subject of study are quite rare [5; 6; 8; 18], in addition, at the national and regional level is considered at the examples of foreign European countries [2; 3; 15].
4 In the Asia-Pacific region, meanwhile, there is an example of a State whose religious space deserves special attention because of a number of distinctive features of its functioning and development. We are talking about the Philippines, the third largest country in the world in terms of followers of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), after Brazil and Mexico.
5 Referring to the study of the religious space of the Philippines, domestic scholars emphasized the political role of the RCC in the country [14], the ethno-religious conflicts of the regional level [1; 14; 20] or the history of the spread of Catholicism on its territory [19], without aiming to highlight the social, economic, territorial and organizational issues associated with it. In turn, foreign authors paid close attention to the transformation of the relationship between the RCC and the state in the Philippines, the change in its role in Philippine society in recent years, pointed to the social problems associated with territorial differentiation in the standard of living of Catholic clergy and poverty of parishes in the peripheral areas of the country [25], also bypassing the topic of financial or institutional features of the RCC in the Philippines [22]. Meanwhile, an objective assessment of the trends in the development of the religious space and the extent of the influence of a religious institution on the life of society requires its complex and multifaceted characterization. The need for such and determined the purpose of this study, which should identify the features of the institutional structure of the RCC in the Philippines, analyze the factors of its formation and development trends, identify the features of economic and social activities.
6 Research materials and methods. The statistical basis of the study was the data of financial reports of Catholic organizations of the Philippines (the last available data for 2013), and theoretical – the works of domestic and foreign scientists in the field of religious regional studies, as well as economic and social activities of religious organizations. In addition, mathematics and statistical methods adopted in regional and economic studies were used to objectively characterize the trends in the development of the religious space and to substantiate the results.
7 The results and their discussion. Catholicism spread in the territory of the state in question in the 16th century (1521). The missionary initiative in the case of the Philippines came from representatives of the Spanish Catholic Church, and the starting point for their activities was one of the oldest settlements in the Philippines, Cebu, currently one of the largest cities and the administrative center of Cebu province, located in the archipelago of the same name.
8 In the confessional space of the Philippines is strongly dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, which has a leading place both in the number and share of adherents in the religious structure of the population, and in the number of primary territorial units – parishes, whose associations in the diocese, archdiocese, etc. form a developed institutional network of religious organization. Throughout the 2010s. more than 80% of Filipinos consistently declared their belonging to the Catholic branch of Christianity (according to official data of the Holy See in the Vatican for 2015, more than 83.6 million people, i.e. 82.3% of the total population)1. But even more important for the role of the RCC among Filipinos is, especially against the background of modern secular processes in the countries of foreign Europe [15], the other figure – 37% of the population, regularly participating in church rites and ordinances, i.e. those who are called "practicing Catholics"2. 1. Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2017, available at: https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/philippines – (accessed: 26 January 2020).

2. The Church of England, 2020, available at: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/201910/2018StatisticsForMission_0.pdf – (accessed: 25 January 2020).

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