Unpacking “Youth” and “Religiosity” in Being Catholic (2016)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This response to Being Catholic in the Contemporary Philippines proceeds in three parts. Part 1 summarizes the contents of Cornelio’s book, which complicates popular assumptions and academic literature on contemporary Catholicism and, more specifically, religiosity among a segment of Filipino youths. Part 2 explores the book’s strengths, particularly how it provides a deeper understanding of contemporary Catholicism, religious identity, and the status of religious institutions among youth believers in the urban Philippines. Part 3 is a discussion of some of the book’s weaknesses, such as methodological limitations, problems with homogenization and generalization, and the need for a more critical appraisal of notions such as “the youth,” “religion,” “creative Catholics,” “isolated generation,” and “emotions.” I also discuss in the third part how insights from the anthropology of Islam and of Muslim youths, and my ethnography in the Cotabato region, can converse with Cornelio’s work and complicate “youth,” “religion,” creativity in/and religiosity, and youths’ political subjectivities.