When you are the head of an institution that is as old and as influential as the Catholic Church, your life is bound to be minutely scrutinized to determine how well it measures up to the vision and ideals of the institution. Benedict’s record as a young man was dug up to see if he … Read more
When I was in Japan early this year, I expressed a wish to visit the community on the eastern coast of Japan that my daughter Kara had featured in one of her “I-Witness” documentaries. This was the town of Ofunato in the Iwate Prefecture, which was washed away by the tsunami that followed The Great … Read more
One of the most interesting figures ever to rule the Sultanate of Sulu was Muhammad Alimuddin I, who, in 1735, took over as sultan from his older brother Nasaruddin. He was a complex man with an advanced instinct for statecraft and diplomacy, which was not common among Sulu’s lesser nobility. The late Jesuit historian Fr. … Read more
We should be wary of talking about North Borneo or Sabah as if it were just a piece of real estate without inhabitants. There are people there who regard themselves as natives to the place, and identify themselves as Sabahans. They are descended from the various ethnic groups and races that over the centuries had … Read more
As a student of society, I see religion primarily as a form of communication. In simple societies, it may often permeate all of everyday life, making it difficult to say what belongs to religion and what does not. As societies become more complex, they develop other ways of talking about the world that do not … Read more
As a student of society, I see religion primarily as a form of communication. In simple societies, it may often permeate all of everyday life, making it difficult to say what belongs to religion and what does not. As societies become more complex, they develop other ways of talking about the world that do not … Read more
“Habemus Papam” (We have a Pope)—these are the words the cardinal deacon uses to announce the election of a new pope to the expectant crowd at St. Peter’s Square. It is also the title of an Italian movie shown in 2011, which tells the story of a fictional conclave of cardinals convened to elect a … Read more
In what appeared to be an impromptu interview, President Aquino last Thursday spoke of his apprehensions over the tense situation that has developed in the wake of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s decision to send his “royal army” to reclaim Sabah as part of the Sulu “homeland.” Asked about his position on the country’s dormant … Read more
There is more to the ongoing standoff between Malaysian forces and some 300 armed men holed up in a coastal village in Sabah than meets the eye. The latter are Filipino nationals, though they identify themselves as members of the “Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.” They have announced that … Read more
In a previous column, I wrote of the ease with which my 3-year-old granddaughter Jacinta can point out the exact location on a globe of the world’s most obscure nations. The other night, the little girl surprised us again by her uncanny ability to name the other countries that share a boundary with a particular … Read more