THE NEW CATHEDRALS (The Philippines, 2010-ongoing)
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Some of the biggest shopping malls in the world are in The Philippines, a developing country that is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Its population spends so much of their free time – and the billions that family members living overseas send back home – in these shoppers’ paradises that they have begun to form the heart of the community. To oblige its followers, the Catholic Church has started to hold Masses in the shopping malls – in a quiet corner, the atrium, or a purpose-built chapel. That, says Estan Cabigas, underscores how shopping malls have become the new cathedrals.