On May 4, 1493,Pope Alexander VI issuedBullInter Caetera granted permission to the Spanish crown to make explore and conquer the mainlands and islands[5] in Asia that came to be known as the Spanish Pacific and distinguishing it from the area granted to thePortuguese.[6] Explorations were motivated by evangilization[5] and finding spices.[7][8] In 1519,Ferdinand Magellan set out to the Pacific and discovered the Philippines in March 1521.[7] Magellan's chronicler,Antonio Pigafetta, noted mass was celebrated on March 31, 1521 which was an Easter Sunday in Mazaua and was attended by Rajah Colambu and Siaui.[7] In commemoration a cross was erected on the site.[7] There are contentions, however, on the actualFirst Mass in the Philippines[7] with contradicting claims that it was held inButuan,Limasawa,Bolinao, andHomonhon.[7][9] They worked to evangelize the natives ofCebu and performed wholesale baptisms.[5]
The Spanish Crown first entrusted the conversion of Philippine natives to theAugustinians.[5] In 1564, the Culhuacan convent in Mexico City issued the religious warrant establishing the first branch of the order in the Philippines.[5] In 1565, the Legazpi expedition set off fromMexico City and marked the beginning of the Hispanisation of the Philippines, beginning withCebu.[5][10] This expedition was an effort to occupy the islands with as little conflict as possible, ordered byPhillip II.[11]Lieutenant Legazpi set up colonies in an effort to make peace with the natives[12] and achieve swift conquest.
Christianity expanded fromCebu when the remaining Spanish missionaries were forced westwards due to conflict with the Portuguese, and laid the foundations of the Christian community in the Panay between around 1560 to 1571. A year later the second batch of missionaries reached Cebu. The island became the ecclesiastical "seat" and the center for evangelization. Augustinian Missionary Fray Alfonso Jimenez traveled into the Camarines region through the islands of Masbate, Leyte, Samar, and Burias and centered the church onNaga City. He was named the first apostle of the region. By 1571 Fray Herrera, who was assigned as chaplain of Legazpi, advanced further north from Panay and founded the local church community in Manila. Herrera travelled further in the Espiritu Santo and shipwrecked inCatanduanes, where he died attempting to convert the natives. In 1572, the Spaniards led by Juan de Salcedo marched north from Manila with the second batch of Augustinian missionaries and pioneered the evangelization in theIlocos (starting with Vigan) and theCagayan regions.[10]
Under theencomienda system, Filipinos had to pay tribute to theencomendero of the area, and in return theencomendero taught them the Christian faith and protected them from enemies. Although Spain had used this system in America, it did not work as effectively in the Philippines, and the missionaries were not as successful in converting the natives as they had hoped. In 1579, Bishop Salazar and clergymen were outraged because theencomenderos had abused their powers. Although the natives were resistant, they could not organize into a unified resistance towards the Spaniards, partly due togeography and ethno-linguistic differences.
With the increasing number of colonists, Spain and Mexico pressured other religious orders to join the evangelical mission started by the Augustinian in the Philippines.[5][13] TheFranciscans arrived in 1577, followed by theJesuits in 1581, theDominicans in 1587, andAugustinian Recollects in 1606.[8][13]
The Cenaculo, isa traditional Filipino theatrical performance that depicts the Passion and Death ofJesus Christ , particularly during theSemana Santa. It is a form of liturgical drama rooted in 17th and 18th-century Catholic traditions. The play combines the recitation of the "Pasyón" (a verse narrative of Christ's suffering) with theatrical elements. The traditional cenaculo attires worn by reenactors are uniquely elaborated interpretations ofGreco-Roman andJudean attires from which the story sets.[14]Group picture of students Ateneo de Manila Philippines. At the center is a ceremonial presence ofPope Benedict XV in the form of his portrait.Filipinas ready for church, 1905
The Spaniards were disapproving of the lifestyle they observed in the natives. They blamed the influence ofthe Devil and desired to "liberate the natives from their evil ways". Over time, geographical limitations had shifted the natives intobarangays, small kinship units consisting of about 30 to 100 families.
Each barangay had a mutable caste system, with any sub-classes varying from one barangay to the next. Generally, patriarchal lords and kings were calleddatus andrajas, while themahárlika were the knight-likefreedmen and thetimawa werefreedmen. Thealipin or servile class were dependent on the upper classes, an arrangement regarded as slavery by the Spaniards. Intermarriage between thetimawa and thealipin was permitted, which created a more or less flexible system of privileges and labor services. The Spaniards attempted to suppress this class system based on their interpretation that the dependent, servile class was an oppressed group. They failed at completely abolishing the system, but instead eventually worked to use it to their own advantage.
Religion and marriage were also issues that the Spanish missionaries wanted to reform.Polygyny was not uncommon, but was mostly confined to wealthier chieftains. Divorce and remarriage were also common as long as the reasons were justified. Accepted reasons for divorce included illness, infertility, or finding better potential to take as a spouse. The missionaries also disagreed with the practices of payingdowries, the "bride price" where the groom paid his father-in-law in gold, and "bride-service", in which the groom performed manual labor for the bride's family, a custom which persisted until the late 20th century. Missionaries disapproved of these because they felt bride-price was an act of selling one's daughter, and labor services in the household of the father allowedpremarital sex between the bride and groom, which contradicted Christian beliefs.
Pre-conquest, the natives had followed a variety of monotheistic and polytheistic faiths, often localized forms of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam or Tantrism mixed with Animism.Bathala (Tagalog – Central Luzon) orLaon (Visayan) was the ultimatecreator deity above subordinate gods and goddesses. Natives Filipinos also worshiped nature andvenerated the spirits of their ancestors, whom they propitiated with sacrifices. There was ritualistic drinking and many rituals aimed to cure certain illnesses. Magic and superstition were also practiced. The Spaniards saw themselves as liberating the natives from sinful practices and showing them the correct path to God.
In 1599, negotiation began between a number of lords and their freemen and the Spaniards. The native rulers agreed to submit to the rule of the Castilian king and convert to Christianity, and allow missionaries to spread the faith. In return, the Spaniards agreed to protect the natives from their enemies, mostly Japanese, Chinese, and Muslim pirates.
Several factors slowed the Spaniards' attempts to spread Christianity throughout the archipelago. The low number of missionaries on the island made it difficult to reach all the people and harder to convert them.[8] This was also due to the fact that the route to the Philippines was a rigorous journey,[7][13] and some clergy fell ill or waited years for an opportunity to travel there. For others, the climate difference once they arrived was unbearable. Other missionaries desired to go to Japan or China instead and some who remained were more interested in mercantilism. The Spaniards also came into conflict with the Chinese population in the Philippines. The Chinese had set up shops in the Parian (or bazaar) during the 1580s to trade silk and other goods for Mexican silver. The Spaniards anticipated revolts from the Chinese and were constantly suspicious of them. The Spanish government was highly dependent on the influx of silver from Mexico and Peru, since it supported the government in Manila, to continue the Christianization of the archipelago.
The most difficult challenges for the missionaries were the dispersion of the Filipinos and the wide variety of languages and dialects. The geographical isolation forced the Filipino population into numerous small villages, and every other province supported a different language. Furthermore, frequent privateering from JapaneseWokou pirates and slave-raiding by Muslims blocked Spanish attempts to Christianize the archipelago, and to offset the disruption of continuous warfare with them, the Spanish militarized the local populations, importing soldiers from Latin America, and constructed networks of fortresses across the islands.[15] As the Spanish and their local allies were in a state of constant war against pirates and slavers, the Philippines became a drain on the Vice-royalty of New Spain in Mexico City, which paid to maintaining control of Las Islas Filipinas in lieu of the Spanish crown.
During the Spanish colonial period, the five earliest regular orders assigned to Christianize the natives were theAugustinians, who came withLegazpi, the DiscalcedFranciscans (1578), theJesuits (1581), theDominican friars (1587) and theAugustinian Recollects (simply called the Recoletos, 1606).[8][13][16] In 1594, all had agreed to cover a specific area of the archipelago to deal with the vast dispersion of the natives. The Augustinians and Franciscans mainly covered the Tagalog country while the Jesuits had a small area. The Dominicans encompassed the Parian. The provinces of Pampanga and Ilocos were assigned to the Augustinians. The province ofCamarines went to the Franciscans. The Augustinians and Jesuits were also assigned theVisayan Islands. The Christian conquest had not reached[citation needed]Mindanao due to a highly resistant Muslim community that existed pre-conquest.
The task of the Spanish missionaries, however, was far from complete. By the seventeenth century, the Spaniards had created about 20 large villages and almost completely transformed the native lifestyle. For their Christian efforts, the Spaniards justified their actions by claiming that the small villages were a sign of barbarism and only bigger, more compact communities allowed for a richer understanding of Christianity. The Filipinos faced much coercion; the Spaniards knew little of native rituals. The layout of these villages was in gridiron form that allowed for easier navigation and more order. They were also spread far enough to allow for one cabecera or capital parish, and smallvisita chapels located throughout the villages in which clergy only stayed temporarily for Mass, rituals, or nuptials.
The Philippines served as a base for sendingmissions to other Asian and Pacific countries such as China, Japan,Formosa,Indochina, andSiam.[16]
The Filipinos to an extent resisted Christianisation because they felt an agricultural obligation and connection with their rice fields: large villages took away their resources and they feared the compact environment. This also took away from the encomienda system that depended on land, therefore, the encomenderos lost tributes. However, the missionaries continued their proselytising efforts, one strategy being targeting noble children. These scions of now-tributary monarchs and rulers were subjected to intense education in religious doctrine and the Spanish language, with the theory that they in turn could convert their elders, and eventually the nobleman's subjects..[citation needed]
Despite the progress of the Spaniards, it took many years for the natives to truly grasp key concepts of Christianity. In Catholicism, four main sacraments attracted the natives but only for ritualistic reasons, and they did not fully alter their lifestyle as the Spaniards had hoped.Baptism was believed to simply cure ailments, whileMatrimony was a concept many natives could not understand and thus they violated the sanctity of monogamy. They were, however, allowed to keep the tradition ofdowry, which was accepted into law; "bride-price" and "bride-service" were practiced by natives despite labels of heresy.Confession was required of everyone once a year, and the clergy used theconfessionario, a bilingual text aid, to help natives understand the rite's meaning and what they had to confess. Locals were initially apprehensive, but gradually used the rite to excuse excesses throughout the year.Communion was given out selectively, for this was one of the most important sacraments that the missionaries did not want to risk having the natives violate. To help their cause, evangelism was done in the native language..[citation needed]
TheDoctrina Christiana is a book of catechism, the alphabet, and basic prayers in Tagalog (both in the Latin alphabet andBaybayin) and Spanish published in the 16th century.
Catholic ceremony in the Philippines, circa pre-1930
When the Spanish clergy were driven out in 1898, there were so few indigenous clergy that the Catholic Church in the Philippines was in imminent danger of complete ruin. Under American administration, the situation was saved and the roper training of Filipino clergy was undertaken.[17] In 1906,Jorge Barlin was consecrated as theBishop of Nueva Caceres, making him the first Filipinobishop of theCatholic Church.[18]
During thesovereignty of the United States, the American government implemented theseparation of church and state,[19] which reduced the significant political power exerted by the Catholic Church[19] and led to the establishment ofother faiths (particularlyProtestantism) within the country.[20] A provision of the 1935 Philippine Constitution mimicked theFirst Amendment to the United States Constitution and added the sentences: "The exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall be forever allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil political rights." But the Philippine experience has shown that this theoreticalwall of separation has been crossed several times by secular authorities and culturally the Western church and state separation has been viewed as blasphemous among the Filipino people.[tone]
It was during the American Period when newer religious orders arrived in the Philippines. The Spanish friars gradually fled by the hundreds and left parishes without pastors. This prompted bishops to ask for non-Spanish Religious Congregations to set up foundations in the Philippines and help augment the lack of pastors. The American Jesuits and other religious orders from their American province filled the void left by their Spanish counterparts, creating a counterbalance to the growth of Protestant congregations by American Protestant missionaries.[citation needed]
Catholic procession of theBlack Nazarene in Manila, 2010
After the war, most of the religious orders resumed their ecclesiastical duties and helped in the rehabilitation of towns and cities ravaged by war. Classes in Catholic schools run by religious orders resumed, with American priests specializing in academic and scientific fields fulfilling faculty roles until the mid-1970s. American and foreign bishops were gradually succeeded by Filipino bishops by the 1950s.[citation needed]
TheSecond Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965 instituted a dramatic change for the Catholic Church in the Philippines, transforming the Latin Spanish church imposed upon the country to a Filipino church deeply rooted in Philippine culture and language.[21]
When the Philippines wasplaced underMartial Law by 10th president and dictatorFerdinand Marcos Sr., relations between Church and State changed dramatically, as some bishops expressly and openly opposed Martial Law.[22] The turning point came in 1986 when theCBCP President and then-Archbishop of Cebu CardinalRicardo Vidal appealed to the Filipinos and the bishops against the government and the fraudulent result of the snap election;[23] with him was then-Archbishop of Manila CardinalJaimé Sin, who broadcast over church-ownedRadio Veritas a call for people to support anti-regime rebels. The people's response became what is now known as thePeople Power Revolution, which ousted Marcos.[24]
Church and State today maintain generally cordial relations despite differing opinions over specific issues. With the guarantee of religious freedom in the Philippines, the Catholic clergy subsequently remained in the political background as a source of moral influence, especially during elections. Political candidates continue to court the clergy and religious leaders for support.[citation needed] In the 21st century, Catholic practice ranges from traditional orthodoxy, toFolk Catholicism andCharismatic Catholicism.[25][failed verification]
Quiapo Church is the home of the image of theBlack Nazarene, which is the focus of widespread popular devotion in the country.
At the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Mass gatherings were prohibited as part ofcommunity quarantines to contain the virus; this prompted the Church to broadcast most liturgical services and spiritual activities through the Internet, television, and radio,[26][27] and the CBCP allowed bishops todispense the faithful from Sunday obligation. Physical Holy Masses in churches gradually resumed by June at limited capacities,[28] but were suspended multiple times in response to multiple surges of cases between August 2020 and January 2022.[29][30] As quarantine restrictions eased, the CBCP, on October 14, 2022, released a circular encouraging the faithful to resume attending Sunday Masses;[31] since then, several dioceses and archdioceses lifted its dispensations from physical attendance of Masses.[32][33] Despite the setbacks brought by the pandemic, in 2021, the Church celebrated thequincentennial of the arrival of Christianity in the country;[34] the celebrations commemorated thefirst Mass in the country[35] and the re-enactment of the first Baptism inCebu City, among others.[36]
A number ofCatholic Charismatic Renewal movements emergedvis-a-vis theBorn-again movement during the 70s. The charismatic movement offeredIn-the-Spirit seminars in the early days, which have now evolved and have different names; they focus on the charismatic gifts of theHoly Spirit. Some of the charismatic movements were the Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon, Assumption Prayer Group,Couples for Christ, the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals,El Shaddai, Elim Communities, Kerygma, the Light of Jesus Family,[122] Shalom, and Soldiers of Christ.[123]
The Catholic Church'sNeocatechumenal Way in the Philippines has been established for more than 40 years. Membership in the Philippines now exceeds 35,000 persons in more than 1,000 communities, with concentrations in Manila and Iloilo province. A neocatechumenal diocesan seminary,Redemptoris Mater, is located in Parañaque, while manyfamilies in mission are all over the islands. The Way has been mostly concentrated on evangelization initiatives under the authority of the local bishops.
The Catholic Church is involved in education at all levels. It has founded and continues to sponsor hundreds of secondary and primary schools as well as a number of colleges and internationally known universities. The earliest universities in the Philippines were theUniversity of San Carlos and theUniversity of Santo Tomas, founded during the Spanish colonial period.[128] TheJesuitAteneo de Manila University,La Salle BrothersDe La Salle University, and theDominican University of Santo Tomas are listed in the "World's Best Colleges and Universities" in the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings.[129]
The Catholic Church wields great influence on Philippine society and politics, notably reaching its political peak in 1986.[131] Then-Archbishops ofCebu andManila—CardinalsRicardo Vidal andJaime Sin, respectively—were influential during thePeople Power Revolution of 1986 against dictatorFerdinand E. Marcos. Vidal, who was president of theCatholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) at that time, led the rest of the Philippine bishops and made a joint declaration against Marcos and the results of the snap election, while Sin appealed to the public via radio to march alongEpifanio delos Santos Avenue in support of rebel forces. Some seven million people responded in thenon-violent revolution which lasted from February 22–25, effectively driving Marcos out of power and into exile in Hawaii.[132]
In 1989,President Corazon Aquino asked Vidal to convince General Jose Comendador, who was sympathetic to the rebel forces fighting her government, to peacefully surrender. Vidal's efforts averted what could have been a bloody coup.[133]
In October 2000, Sin expressed his dismay over the allegations of corruption against PresidentJoseph Estrada. His call sparked the second EDSA Revolution, dubbed as "EDSA Dos". Vidal personally asked Estrada to step down, to which he agreed at around 12:20 p.m. of January 20, 2001, after five continuous days of protest at theEDSA Shrine, and various parts of the Philippines and the world. Estrada'sVice-President,Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, succeeded him and was sworn in on the terrace of the shrine in front of Sin. However, in 2008, more than halfway into Arroyo's presidency, the Catholic Church apologized, and theCBCP President at the time and theArchbishop of Jaro,Angel Lagdameo, called EDSA II a mistake.[134]
On the death of PopeJohn Paul II in 2005, PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo declared three days of national mourning and was one of many dignitaries at his funeral inVatican City.[135] Political turmoil in the Philippines widened the rift between the State and the Church. Arroyo's press secretaryIgnacio Bunye called the bishops and priests who attended an anti-Arroyo protest as hypocrites and "people who hide their true plans".
The Catholic Church in the Philippines strongly opposed theResponsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, commonly known as the RH Bill.[136] The country's populace – 80% of which self-identify as Catholic – was deeply divided in its opinions over the issue.[137] Members of the CBCP vehemently denounced and repeatedly attempted to block[138] PresidentBenigno Aquino III's plan to push for the passage of thereproductive health bill.[139][140] The bill, which was popular among the public, was signed into law by Aquino, and was seen as a point of waning moral and political influence of the Catholic Church in the country.[141][138][131]
During theDuterte administration, the Catholic Church in the Philippines was vocally critical of extrajudicial killings taking place during thewar on drugs, in what the church sees as the administration's approval of the bloodshed.[142] Efforts by the church to rally public support against the administration's war on drugs were less effective due to Duterte's popularity andhigh trust rating.[131] Some churches reportedly offeredsanctuary to those who fear death due to the drug war violence.[143]
The Philippines has been active in sending Catholic missionaries around the world and has been a training center for foreign priests and nuns.[146]
To spread the Christian religion and the teachings of Jesus Christ, missionaries enter local communities. Depending on where a missionary or group of missionaries are travelling, their work will vary (international or local communities).
The Philippines has shown a strongdevotion toMary, evidenced by her patronage of various towns and locales nationwide.[147] Particularly, there are pilgrimage sites dedicated to a specificapparition ortitle of Mary. With Spanish regalia, indigenous miracle stories, and Asian facial features, Filipino Catholics have created hybridized, localized images, the popular devotions to which have been recognized by various Popes.
Filipino Marian images with an established devotion have generally received a Canonical Coronation, with the icon's principal shrine being customarily elevated to the status ofminor basilica. Below are some pilgrimage sites and the year they received a canonical blessing:
Our Lady of the Abandoned (Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados)Marikina – 2005
Pope Francis (2015) visited the country on January 15–19, 2015, and was invited by then-Manila Archbishop, CardinalLuis Antonio Tagle to return for the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu in 2016.[160][161] At the Mass at Manila's Quirino Grandstand inside Rizal Park on Sunday, January 18, 2015, the attendance was pegged at about six to seven million worshippers, making the event the highest number ever recorded in papal history according to Fr.Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office.[162]
^"Religious and lay Filipino missionaries in the world are "Christ first witnesses".AsiaNews. July 16, 2015. Archived fromthe original on April 23, 2022. RetrievedApril 23, 2022.With a Christian tradition that goes back almost 500 years, the Philippines has not only sent a large number of missionaries abroad, especially in Europe, but has also become a training centre for hundreds of priests, seminarians and nuns from all over the world.
^Mildenstein, Tammy; Stier, Samuel Cord; Gritzner, Charles F. (2009).Philippines. Infobase Publishing. p. 89.ISBN978-1-4381-0547-5. RetrievedApril 23, 2022.