THE TRIPLE CRIES OF POOR, WOMEN, AND THE EARTH

INTERLOCKING OPPRESSIONS IN THE ASIAN CONTEXT

Authors

  • Christina A Astorga University of Portland

Keywords:

Cry of the Poor, Cry of the Earth, Cry of Women, Ecology, Ecological Kinship, Gender Resistance, Laudato Sí, Prophetic Lament, Triple Cries

Abstract

This article presents how feminist theology and ecological theology converge with liberation theology. Taking an Asian context, it shows how in the diminishment of women, the exploitation of the poor, and the plundering of the earth, we hear triple cries. Listening to the triple cries and contemplating the rich and profound wisdom of the encyclical letter of the Holy Father Francis: Laudato sí: On Care For Our Common Home, the article develops a three-fold faith vision in response
to the three cries: prophetic lament, gender resistance, and ecological kinship. Amidst the cry of the poor, prophetic lament gives rise to a deep sense of compassion; the cry of women is heard, but in the end it must be women that must let their cry be heard, as they reclaim their agency in gender resistance — the ability to limit, nullify, or overturn structures of power; and the cry of the earth is the cry for a new order of relationship, envisioned by Pope Francis as ecological kinship.

Author Biography

Christina A Astorga, University of Portland

Christina A. Astorga is currently Chair and Professor of the Theology Department of the Theology Department of the University of Portland. She was the former Chairperson of the Theology Department of the Ateneo de Manila University. She was a visiting fellow at Boston College and Georgetown University, and a visiting professor at Canisius College, University of San Diego, and Gonzaga University. She was also the Founding Director of Duquesne University’s Center for the Study of Catholic Social Thought. As a visiting scholar of Fordham University, she completed her recent book, Catholic Moral Theology and Social Ethics—A New Method, which won the 2014 College Theology Society Best Book Award and the 2015 Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada Awards in Theology (third place). Email: astorga@up.edu
This article was first published in Doing Asian Theological Ethics in a Cross-Cultural and an Interreligious Context, eds. Yiu Sing Lúcás Chan, James F. Keenan and Shaji George Kochuthara, Bengaluru: Dharmaram Publications, 2016, 250-262.

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Published

2016-06-30

How to Cite

Astorga, C. A. (2016). THE TRIPLE CRIES OF POOR, WOMEN, AND THE EARTH: INTERLOCKING OPPRESSIONS IN THE ASIAN CONTEXT. Asian Horizons, 10(02), 272–285. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2068