Kabayan Spirit in Place or Out of Space: Reimagining Catholicism in Filipino Charismatic Religious Practices in Hong Kong and Singapore

This study examines Catholic charismatic prayer groups of El Shaddai among overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong and Singapore through an ethnohistorical analysis of migrant devotional practice. It investigates how prayer gatherings function as sites of identity formation and spatial negotiation. Drawing on theories of religion and space by Thomas A. Tweed (2006) and Kim Knott (2005), the study shows how charismatic practices transform shared environments into temporary sacred spaces. Using interviews, participant observation, and historical reconstruction, it analyzes how praise-and-worship and devotional objects such as rosaries, handkerchiefs, and digital media mediate divine presence while blurring distinctions between official liturgy and vernacular devotion. The findings suggest that migrant religiosity provides both spiritual and socio-cultural support while negotiating authority between lay movements and institutional Catholic structures, producing what the study terms “kabayan spirit in place or out of space.”