Volume 28 — Present Condition of the Catholic Religion in Filipinas

[The following account is obtained from Archipiélago filipino (prepared by the Jesuit fathers at Manila; Washington, 1900), ii, pp. 258–267.]

The progressive increase of Catholics in Filipinas until 1898

In order to understand the present condition of the Catholic religion in Filipinas (we refer to the year 1896, before the Tagál insurrection), it will be advisable to place before the eyes of the reader the growth of the Christian population and the increase of the faithful from the coming of the Spaniards until the present time.

The number of inhabitants whom the Spaniards encountered at their arrival in these islands is not known with exactness, but it is calculated by some historians as below two millions; and it will not be imprudent to affirm that they all scarcely reached one and one-half millions—whether idolaters, who admitted the plurality of gods; or Moros, who although they professed (as they still profess) the unity of God, did not believe (as they still do not believe) the divinity of Jesus Christ, but who have, on the contrary, been instructed from their earliest years by their parents and pandits to hate Christianity.

The Spanish missionaries arrived, then, and began the work of evangelization at the same time as the humanitarian undertaking to reduce them to a civilized life; for most of the Indians and Moros were living in scattered groups along the coasts, and in the fields and thickets in small settlements.

In 142 villages in charge of the seculars throughout this archipelago 131,279

Calced Augustinians (in more than 150 villages) 241,806

Order of St. Dominic (in 51 villages) 89,752

The Society of Jesus (in 80 villages) 170,000

Augustinian Recollects (in 105 villages) 63,149

Discalced Franciscans (in 63 villages) 141,196

Total 837,182

Father Delgado, who wrote in the year 1750, gives almost the same statistics, but adds the following:

“I do not doubt that the souls that are ministered to, throughout the islands of this archipelago, by secular and regular priests, exceed one million and many thousands in addition; for, in the lists made by the ministers, the children still below the age of seven years are neither entered nor enumerated. Accordingly, I shall base my count on the enumeration made a few years ago.”

In the work entitled Estado de las Islas Filipinas, written by Don Tomás de Comyn in 1820, and translated into English by William Walton in 1821, the following is contained as an appendix:

Recapitulation of population in Filipinas

Total number of Indians of both sexes (Catholics) 2,395,687

Total number of Sangley mestizos (Catholics) 119,719

Total number of Sangleys or Chinese 7,000

Total number of whites 4,000

Total population 2,526,406

Comparison of the population in 1791 and 1810, exclusive

1791 1810 Difference

Number of Indians 1,582,761 2,395,687 812,926

Number of mestizos 66,917 119,719 52,802

Total 1,649,678 2,515,406 865,728

He concludes by saying:

“The resultant difference of the foregoing comparison, founded on public documents, shows an excess of fifty-two per cent of increase in each eighteen years; and if a like proportion continues, the population of the Filipinas Islands will be doubled in thirty-four years—an increase which could be judged incredible if we did not have an extraordinary example in Filadelfia [i.e., Philadelphia], which has doubled its population in twenty-eight years, as Buffon, supported by the authority of Doctor Franklin, affirms.”

The above assertion of Comyn has been realized now in all exactness, if we are to judge by the assertions, in his published works, of Don Felipe de Pan, a studious newspaper man of Manila; for, according to that writer, the population of Filipinas exceeded 9,000,000 in 1876.

Ferreiro, secretary of the Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid [i.e., “Geographical Society of Madrid”], also calculated the population of Filipinas in 1887 at 9,000,000 approximately, a number which seems to be somewhat above actual fact.

In an investigation finished in the last quarter of 1894, the population of the archipelagoes which composed the general government of Filipinas appears in the following form:

Christian parish population 6,414,373

In concealment [i.e., refugees] 128,287

Regular and secular clergy 2,651

Indian and Spanish military 21,513

Those in asylums [asilados] 689

Criminals [penados] 702

Chinese foreigners 74,504

White foreigners 1,000

Moros 309,000

Heathen 880,000

Total 7,832,719

Finally, the secretary’s office of the archbishopric of Manila offers us the following enumeration with respect to the Catholics existing in the archipelagoes of Filipinas, Marianas, and Carolinas, in the year 1898, according to the following lists:

Number of souls by dioceses

In the archbishopric of Manila 1,811,445

In the bishopric of Cebú 1,748,872

In the bishopric of Jaro 1,310,754

In the bishopric of Nueva Segovia 997,629

In the bishopric of Nueva Cáceres 691,298

Total number of Catholics 6,559,998

To whom is due this increase of Catholicism, and this growth of the population of Filipinas in general, from the time of the conquest by the Spaniards? It is due to the regular and secular clergy. One can scarcely ascribe any importance to the immigration into Filipinas during the lapse of years. The Chinese, and the Europeans (including the Spaniards themselves), can be considered, as a general rule, as birds of passage, who come to live here for a few years and then return to their own country. The Filipino population has increased, thanks to the organization and good government at the centers [of population], which were established chiefly by missionary action, at the time when the natives of the evangelized territories became Christians. The secular power, even when aided by arms, has not even attempted to form villages of the heathen; neither have the military posts become well populated or stable settlements. The center of attraction and of coherence in Filipino villages has always been, and is still, the church and the convent. The parish priest (who is not a bird of passage) is, as a rule, the most respected authority, the chief guarantee of order and peace, and the most careful guardian of morality—an indubitable and most important cause of increase in the population of every country. The numerous and important settlements, which have now other powerful roots and elements of cohesion, began and were formed thus. If the center of union of which we are speaking be removed from them, especially if they are recent and young, one will see how families break up, and how the new citizens easily return to the life of the mountain.

Present state of the archbishopric of Manila, and of the bishoprics of Cebú, Jaro, Nueva Cáceres, and Nueva Segovia

In order to feed this flock of six and one-half millions of Catholics, the church of Filipinas relies on one archbishop and four bishops.

Don Fray Martín de García de Alcocer, of the Order of St. Francis, governs the diocese of Cebú. He is a very worthy prelate, and is greatly beloved by all his diocesans. He took possession of his diocese December 11, 1886. There is an old cathedral in Cebú, and another new one was erected when the revolution was begun. That city has, also, a conciliar seminary in charge of the Paulist fathers, and two hospitals subordinate to the miter. The diocese numbers 166 parishes, 15 mission parishes, 32 active missions, 213 parish priests or missionaries, and 125 native clergy.

By the death of Don Fray Leandro Arrué, which happened in 1897, Don Fray Mauricio Ferrero, an ex-provincial of the religious of the Order of the Augustinian Recollects, has just been appointed bishop of Jaro. The bishopric of Jaro possesses a cathedral church, which is also the parish church of the city of Jaro; and it has a court corresponding to it, and a seminary under the management of the Paulist fathers. In the diocese there are 144 parishes, 23 mission parishes, 33 active missions, 200 parish priests or missionaries, and 73 native clergy employed in the parish ministry.

The diocese of Nueva Cáceres has as Bishop Don Fray Arsenio del Campo, of the Order of St. Augustine, who took possession of his see June 3, 1888. Although it, like the dioceses of Cebú, Jaro, and Nueva Segovia, has no cabildo, nevertheless there is a cathedral church in Nueva Cáceres, an ecclesiastical court, a conciliar seminary in charge of the Paulist fathers, and a leper hospital. The bishopric of Nueva Cáceres has 107 parishes, 17 parish missions, 124 parish priests or missionaries, and 148 native priests.

Condition of the religious corporations

The corporation of calced Augustinian fathers owned, before the revolutionary movement, the magnificent convent and church of San Agustín in Manila, and those of Cebú and Guadalupe, and the orphan asylums of Tambóbong and Mandaloyan; and in España the colleges of Valladolid, Palma de Mallorca, and Santa María de la Vid, with the royal monastery of the Escorial, and the hospitium of Barcelona—besides a mission in China. Its total number of religious was 644.

The corporation of Augustinian Recollect fathers owned (also before the war) in Filipinas their convent and church of Manila, together with those of Cavite, San Sebastián, and Cebú, and the house and estate of Imus; and in España the colleges of Monteagudo, of Marcilla, and of San Millán de la Cogulla—the total number of their religious being 522.

The religious of the Order of St. Francis possess in the Filipinas their convent and church of Manila, that of San Francisco del Monte, the hospital of San Lázaro, the church of the venerable tertiary order at Sampáloc, the hospitium of San Pascual Bailón, the infirmary of Santa Cruz of Laguna, a leper hospital in Camarines, the college of Guinobatan, and the monastery of Santa Clara; and in España, the colleges of Pastrana, Consuegra, Arenas de San Pedro, Puebla de Montalbán, Almagro, and Belmonte, with the residence of Madrid; also a college in Roma—and a total of 475 religious, and 34 religious women.

The religious of the Order of St. Dominic, besides their missions of China and Formosa, own in Manila the convent and church of St. Dominic, the university of Santo Tomás, the college of Santo Tomás, that of San José, and that of San Juan de Letran; the college of San Alberto Magno in Dagupan, the vicariate of San Juan del Monte, and that of San Telmo in Cavite; the beaterio of Santa Catalina de Sena in Manila, for girls; that of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Lingayén, that of Santa Imelda in Tuguegarao, and that of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Vigan, also for the education of girls; and in España the two colleges of Santo Domingo de Ocaña and Santo Tomás de Avila—with a total of 528 religious.

The missionaries of the Society of Jesus own in Manila a central mission house, the Ateneo [i.e., Athenæum] Municipal, the normal school, and a meteorological observatory. They administer 37 missions, with 265 visitas or reductions, in Mindanao, Basilan, and Joló. The total number of Jesuits resident in Filipinas was only 164; but the province of Aragón, of which the mission forms a part, owns several training-houses, colleges, and residences in España, besides those which it maintains in South America.

The fathers of the Mission, or those of St. Vincent de Paul, own the house of San Marcelino in Manila, and the conciliar seminary of that city, with those of Cebú, Jaro, and Nueva Cáceres.

The Benedictine missionaries occupy the central mission house of Manila; the missions of Taganaán, Cantilan, Gigáquit, Cabúntog, Numancia, and Dinágit, in Mindanao; and a college for missionaries in Monserrat (España). There are 14 of them resident in these islands.

Lastly, there are, besides the religious who live in Filipinas, several houses of religious women, some of whom are dedicated to a contemplative life, as those of St. Clare; others to teaching, as those of the Asunción [i.e., “Assumption”], the Dominicans, and the Beatas of the Society; and others, finally, in the exercise of benevolence, as the Sisters of Charity or of St. Vincent de Paul, who have charge of the hospitals—although the latter also dedicate themselves, with great benefit, to the teaching of young women in the seminaries of Concordia, Santa Isabel, Santa Rosa, the municipal school, Loban, the hospitium of San José of Jaro, and Santa Isabel of Nueva Cáceres.

Religious spirit of the country

After this statistical religious summary, we cannot resist our desire to explain, although briefly, what is at present and definitively the character or qualities of the religious spirit reigning in this country—which owes everything that it is, aside from the purely natural elements, to the Catholic civilization of España. This point is, on another side, very pertinent to the whole subject.

It is not to be doubted, then, that the mass of the natives who have received the direct influence of Spanish civilization are entirely Catholic. The heathen natives are yet barbarous or semi-barbarous; and the Moros, besides being without the civilization of the Christian Indians, do not retain either, from the merely external Mahometanism, more than their innate pride and treachery, and some few formalities, known and practiced by a very few of their race. Those in Filipinas who profess, or say that they profess, any other positive religion (and more especially any other Christian religion), distinct from the Catholic, will be found absolutely only among the foreign element. Therefore, Catholicism is the religion, not only of the majority, but of all the civilized Filipinos.

It is also certain that the Filipinos are sincere Catholics. Their religion suits them, and is congenial to their nature. They practice it spontaneously, and profess it openly and publicly, without any objection. Far from all their minds is the most remote suspicion that Catholicism is not the true and only religion capable of bringing about their temporal and eternal happiness. All of these Indians are by nature docile to the teachings and admonitions of their parish priests and spiritual fathers. Many good people approach the holy sacraments easily and frequently; and the fact that many others do not approach or frequent them so often must be attributed to neglect, to heedlessness, or to real difficulties, but never to aversion. The ceremonies and the solemnity of the worship attract them very powerfully, and so do the popular Catholic exhibitions of great feasts and processions. They display without any objection, but rather with great pleasure, the pious objects and insignia of any devotion or pious association to which they belong; and in many places the women wear the scapular or rosary around the neck as a part or complement of their dress. It may be said that there is no house or family, however poor it be, that does not have a domestic altar or oratory. There are some careless Christians among the Filipino people, vicious and scandalous because of their evil habits; there are even some who are ignorant of the most necessary things of their religion: but there are no unbelievers or impious ones among them—unless some few, relatively insignificant in number, who have become vitiated and corrupted in foreign countries, and afterward have returned to their country. Even these latter have hitherto, because of a certain feeling of shame that they retain, taken care not to let that change be seen, except among irreligious associates or those of another form of worship. Finally, the tertiary orders, brotherhoods, and pious and devotional associations, old and new, have always had a great number of individuals enrolled in the Filipinas, and even constant and fervent affiliated members.

The Catholic religion, always holy and sanctifying, works in those who adopt it, according to the natural or acquired disposition of the same. Thus it is that the defects of character in the Indians, if they are frequently moderated, thanks to the religion that they profess, wholly disappear but with difficulty, and generally even have some influence on the private life and religious character of the natives. Since they are, therefore, more superficial and more impressionable to new things than those of other races, they would perhaps be less constant in their Catholic practices, sentiments, and convictions, and would feel more easily than do others the evil influences of false doctrines and worships, if they had experience with these. They are readily inclined to superstitions, now by their former bad habits, now by their nearness to and communication with those who are yet heathen, now by their exceedingly puerile imagination, and by their nature, which is influenced by their surroundings.

Granting the above, would freedom of worship be advisable for Filipinos?

Since, then, the religion in Filipinas, and consequently their morals, is so unanimous, would it be advisable to introduce freedom of worship into this country? If one understands by freedom of worship only actual religious toleration, by virtue of which no one can be obliged to profess Catholicism, and no one be persecuted for neglecting to be a Catholic, or that each one profess privately the religion that he pleases, that freedom has always existed in Filipinas; and no Filipino or foreigner was ever obliged to embrace the Catholic religion. But if one understands by freedom of worship the concession to all religions (for example, to those of Confucius, Mahomet, and to all the Protestant sects) of equal rights to open schools, erect churches, create parishes, and celebrate public processions and functions, as does the Catholic church, we believe that not only is this not advisable, but that it would be a fatal measure to any government which rules the destinies of Filipinas. If, in fact, this government should concede such freedom of worship, it would cause itself to be hated by the six and one-half millions of Filipino Catholics; for, even though such government should profess no worship, the Filipino people would consider it as responsible for all the consequences of such a measure; and therefore it would not be looked on favorably by these six and one-half millions of Catholics. These people are fully convinced that theirs is the only true religion, and the only one by which they can be saved. If any government should endeavor to despoil them of that religion—which is their most precious jewel, and the richest inheritance which they have received from their ancestors—even should it be no more than permitting the Protestant or heterodox propaganda publicly and openly, then they could not refrain from complaint; and from that might even come the disturbance of public order, or perhaps some politico-religious war, accompanied by all the cruelty and all the disasters which, as are well known, are generally brought on by such wars.

Two serious difficulties can be opposed against the rights of Catholicism in Filipinas. The first is in the Americans who are governing at present, and the second is in the Filipinos themselves. The Americans enjoy in America the most complete freedom of worship; why, then, should they not enjoy that same freedom when they go to Filipinas? We answer, that every inhabitant must conform to the laws of the country in which he lives. The Chinese enjoyed in China the most complete freedom to erect temples to Buddha or to Confucius; but for three centuries they have not enjoyed a like freedom in Manila, although no Chinese has been forced to become a Catholic. We go farther and say that no Chinese has had to boast of his religion in order to trade, become rich, and return to China. The same can be said of the English and Americans. If it is necessary for the good order and government of six and one-half millions of Catholics in Filipinas, besides those who are not Catholics (one and one-half millions, counting idolaters and Moros yet to be civilized), not to permit or encourage freedom of worship, the government which rules the destiny of these islands ought to legislate along those lines, since the laws ought to be adjusted to the needs of the majority of their inhabitants. The Americans themselves who shall take up their residence here ought to accommodate themselves to that law. No temporal or spiritual harm would result to them, for they could privately profess what their conscience dictated to them as the true religion. Thus the English do in Malta, where the Catholic religion is in force; and although the island is so small, there are two thousand Italian Catholic priests in it, who are more content to live under the English government than under the Italian.

If it is said finally, that there are some points of public interest which demand some reform, in what pertains to the religious estate of the Filipinas, we shall not be the ones to deny that. But the Church has the desire and the means to remedy these supposed or recognized evils. If, peradventure, it do not remedy them through ignorance, let anyone who is interested, and the government of the country first of all, bring them to its notice. On the other hand, this matter has no connection with religious freedom.

[From the same work (pp. 256, 257) is taken the following mention of the religious orders who recently established themselves in the Philippines:]

In all the dioceses the bishops looked after the founding of seminaries for the native clergy, not only because such were needed to aid in the administration of the sacraments in the large parishes created by the religious, but also for the occupation of some parishes which were reserved for them from very ancient times.

The fathers of the congregation of St. Vincent de Paul, the Capuchins, and the Benedictines, come to the islands

For the direction of some of these seminaries, the sons of St. Vincent de Paul came from España in 1862, together with the brothers of charity, who took charge of the attendance of the sick in the hospitals, and of the teaching of young women.

The Capuchin fathers also came to these islands in the year 1886, for the purpose of taking charge of the missions of both Carolinas and Palaos, a duty which they have fulfilled marvelously, and not without the sacrifice of all human ambitions—burying themselves forever in those solitudes of the Pacific ocean, for the love of the poor natives of the Carolinas.