Geography, Society, and Culture: Enablers (or Inhibitors) of Basic Ecclesial Community Development

Enablers (or Inhibitors) of Basic Ecclesial Community Development

Résumé

The Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines has mandated the formation of Basic Ecclesial Communities in all Philippine dioceses. Despite this institutional push, the actual promotion and implementation of BECs have faced challenges. Some of these challenges come from implicit or hidden realities: geographies, social formations, and cultures which would affect, negatively or positively, the promotion and development of Basic Ecclesial Communities. This study examines the case of the Diocese of Boac as an example of successfully developing BECs. It delineates Boac’s lifeworld, work, everyday life, and disposition toward community involvement which are dependent on Marinduque’s geographies, social formations, and culture. It also presents, as counter-examples, cases of other parishes in the country to demonstrate how the absence of ‘friendly’ hidden realities have led to the lack of development of BECs. This knowledge about BEC’s success (or failure) being facilitated (or hindered) by implicit realities goes beyond the presuppositions of existing literature on BECs.