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Early Jesuit Missionary Methods in the Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Nicholas P. Cushner S. J.
Nicholas P. Cushner S. J.*
Affiliation:
San José Seminary, Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
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Extract

In 1565, when Spain was still on the ascending arc of its colonial ventures, the first permanent settlement in the Philippines was made. The subsequent decades witnessed, not only a military conquest by Spanish conquistadores, but a spiritual conquest as well. The efforts of Salcedo, Legazpi and the others were, so to speak, the first stage, ushering in the missionaries, “… the real conquerors, who without any other arms than their virtues, gained over the good will of the islanders … and gave the king two millions more of submissive and Christian subjects.”

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , April 1959 , pp. 361 - 379
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1959

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References

1 de Comyn, Thomas, State of the Philippine Islands, trans. Walton, William (London, 1821), p. 209.Google Scholar

2 Bolton, Herbert E., “The Mission as a Frontier Institution in the Spanish American Colonies,” The American Historical Review, 23, no. 1 (October, 1917), 46–47,CrossRefGoogle Scholar Although the author is speaking of the missionary as a political and social influence on the North American frontier, such was also the case in the Philippine Islands where often the missionary was the sole representative of cross and crown.

3 Ibid.

4 For the influence of Jesuit mission education in the Philippines, see de la Costa, Horacio, “Jesuit Education in the Philippines to 1768,” Philippine Studies, 4, no. 2 (July, 1956), 127–155.Google Scholar

5 Ricard’s, Robert classic study in the field of missionary methods, La “conquête spirituelle” du Mexique, essai sur l’apostolat et les méthodes missionaires des ordres mendicants en Nouvelle-Espagne de 1523 à 1572 (Paris, 1933),Google Scholar has provided a model on which similar studies may be profitably patterned. As is obvious, this brief study has made considerable use of its large-scale model.

6 In a communication dated April 27, 1594, Philip II ordered that the Philippines be divided among the four resident religious groups, the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Jesuits. The reason for this partition was the speedier instruction and conversion of the Filipinos. See Blair, E.H. and Robertson, J.A., eds., The Philippine Islands (55 vols.; Cleveland, 1903–1909), 9, 120–121.Google Scholar

7 An Augustinian Father, Alonso Velásquez, worked for a short time in Leyte. He withdrew, however, when the territory was given over to the Jesuits. Redondo, D.Felipe y Sendino, , Breve Reseña … de lo que es la Diocesis de Cebu (Manila, 1886), p. 35.Google Scholar

8 See Ricard, op. cit., pp. 69–70; also Bazaco, Evergisto O.P., History of Education in the Philippines (Manila, 1953), p. 58.Google Scholar Through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a steady stream of royal decrees urged the use of Spanish in giving religious instruction. For the most part however, the missionaries “ obedezian, pero no cumplian.” In Mexico, the famous Jesuit missionary, Francisco Piccolo, once brought two Indian lads to the bishop to help in his plea for alms. The bishop asked whether they knew their prayers. They recited them perfectly, but could only do so in their native dialects. Piccolo received a severe reprimand and was ordered henceforth to instruct only in Spanish. Burrus, E.J. S.J., “Francisco Piccolo, Pioneer of Lower California,” Hispanic American Historical Review, 35, no. 1 (February, 1955), 61–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar For the ideas of the Jesuit founder, Ignatius Loyola, on the native dialects and the missionaries, see Granero, Jesús María S.J., “La acción misionera y los métodos misionales de San Ignacio de Loyola,” Bibliotheca Hispana Missionum, 6 (Burgos, 1931), 143–150 Google Scholar; 209–210.

9 The account of Sánchez’s trip is related in Pedro Chirino’s Relación de las Islas Filipinas, an English translation of which is in Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XIII, 151–152.

10 Ibid., XII, 284.

11 Ibid., XII, 222.

12 Repetti, William C. S.J., History of the Society of Jesus in the Philippine Islands (2 vols.; Manila, 1938), 2, 326.Google Scholar

13 Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XII, 234–235.

14 Ricard, op. cit., pp. 72–73.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid.; When St. Francis Xavier faced this difficulty in Japan he used for God only the Portuguese word Deos in order to avoid equivocal expressions then current among the Japanese sects. The Bonzes however, argued that Deos and their Dajuzo were one and the same thing. Actually Dajuzo meant a “ Great Falsehood.” The difficulty arose, not from malice, but from a complete misunderstanding of the two concepts.

17 Ibid.

18 Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XII, 239.

19 Doctrina Christiana, A facsimile of the copy in the Rosenwald, Lessing J. Collection; with an introductory essay by Wolf, Edwin, 2nd. (Library of Congress, 1947),Google Scholar passim.

20 A visitation, as referred to here, is an inspection of the religious communities in a given area. It is usually conducted by a religious appointed by the superior of the order.

21 Colin, Francisco, Labor evangelica, ed. by Pastells, Pablo, (3 vols.; Barcelona, 1900–1902), 2, 12.Google Scholar

22 Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XII, 282–283.

23 Repetti, op. cit., II, 21–22.

24 Ibid., II, 22–23.

25 Colin, op. cit., II, 122.

26 Ibid., II, 123.

27 Ibid., II, 301.

28 Ibid., II, 210–211.

29 Repetti, op. cit., II, 98.

30 From the Annual Letters of 1598–1599 and 1601–1602 in the manuscript copy of Repetti’s, W.C. “The Society of Jesus in the Philippines,” (7 vols.; Washington, D.C, 1945–1950), 3, 154–176 Google Scholar; V, 47–83. The writer wishes to thank Fr. Repetti for permission to make use of his manuscript.

31 Repetti, , History, 2, 187.Google Scholar

32 Ibid., II, 194–198.

33 Ibid.

34 Ibid.

35 Ibid., II, 197.

36 See Phelan, John L., “Pre-Baptismal Instruction and the Administration of Baptism in the Philippines during the Sixteenth Century,” The Americas, 12, no. 1 (July, 1955), 6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

37 Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XIII, 96.

38 Ibid., XIII, 98.

39 Colin, op. cit., II, 285.

40 Ibid., II, 396.

41 For detailed accounts of preaching methods used by the missionaries, see Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XIII, 62; Repetti, , History, 2, 121–124.Google Scholar

42 Repetti, , History, 2, 274–276.Google Scholar

43 Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XIII, 96.

44 Ibid., XIII, 64.

45 Sucesos of Antonio de Morga, in Ibid., XVI, 153.

46 One of the possible reasons for opposition to the missionaries was that they were confused with Spanish tax collectors.

47 Colin, op. cit., II, 287.

48 For a discussion of various motives for baptism, see J. L. Phelan, loc. cit., pp. 17–20.

49 Blair and Robertson, op. cit., XII, 88; Phelan, loc. cit., p. 18.

50 The English translation of these directives is in Repetti, , “The Society of Jesus,” 3, 10–17.Google Scholar

51 The people of the Visayas and the islands themselves were often referred to as Pintados. They were so called because the natives there tattood themselves.

52 Camotes ate the native sweet potato and tuba is a drink obtained from the coconut tree.