[The following is taken from Archipiélago Filipino (Washington, 1900),
i, pp. 343, 344.]
There are five seminaries in Filipinas, corresponding to the
archdiocese of Manila, and to the four suffragan dioceses of Cebú,
Jaro, Nueva Cáceres, and Nueva Segovia, in which the bishops, in
accordance with the terms of the Council of Trent, have established
the training of the secular clergy. They cannot properly be said to
have begun to perform their functions until 1862, when the fathers of
the congregation of St. Vincent of Paul came to these islands. Those
fathers took said seminaries in charge and direct them at present,
with the exception of that of Nueva Segovia, which was in charge of
the calced Augustinian fathers. Before the year 1862, the majority of
the secular clergy was educated in the colleges of Manila, especially
in that of San Juan de Letran, and in that of San José....
In all these seminaries, except in that in Manila, which, because
of its proximity to the centers of learning, is limited to the
ecclesiastical studies, are taught Castilian and Latin grammar,
arithmetic and algebra, geometry and trigonometry, physics, logic,
psychology, ethics, metaphysics, and dogmatic and moral theology. They
possess a moderate library, some physical and chemical apparatus,
and a collection of solids for the explanation of mathematics. By
means of matriculation and the official examination, the studies of
the secondary education of the seminaries qualify the students to
obtain the degree of bachelor of arts, and admission to the studies
of the university. [113]
The expenses of the staff and those for material were paid from the
proceeds of the three per cent collected by the diocesans from the
allowances which a certain part of their clergy received from the
government. In the seminary of Nueva Cáceres alone, were the expenses
of the staff met by the royal treasury. According to the statistics of
the university, the students of secondary studies in the seminary of
Cebú, for the term of 1896-1897, numbered 504; those in that of Jaro,
211; those in that of Nueva Cáceres, 268; and those in that of Vigan
(Nueva Segovia), 201.
[We add the following from Census of Philippines, iii, pp. 611, 612.]
In order that the branches taught herein, as well as those taught in
private schools, should be considered valid and be recognized by the
university of Santo Tomás, it was necessary that the pupils pay the
enrolment and examination fees prescribed by said university.
The report submitted at the exposition of Amsterdam in 1883, says of
these conciliar seminaries:
"... The administration of the property is under the charge of the
vicar general of the archbishopric of Manila, and of the district
vicars of the respective rectories, under the supervision of the
bishops. The seminary of [Nueva] Segovia has been in charge of the
Recoletos since the middle of 1876, when the Augustinian friars left
it, and who also had charge since 1882, the Paulist fathers having
the honor of having inaugurated the studies now given. These zealous
priests are those at present in charge of the other seminaries."
From statistical tables on file at present in the archives of Manila,
the following facts concerning two of these conciliar seminaries may
be gathered. The enrolment for the seminary of San Carlos, of Manila,
from 1863 to 1886 was 971. The enrolments for the seminary of Nueva
Segovia from 1882 to 1886 were: dogmatic and moral theology, 171;
philosophy, first year, 181, second year, 99, and third year, 93;
Latin grammar, first year, 317, second year, 301, and third year,
256; Spanish grammar, 275.
Prior to the supervision by the Paulist fathers, the studies
of secondary instruction, which were given in the conciliar
seminaries, were identical with those given by the friars in their
other educational institutions, in substance as well as in form,
as the purposes were the same--that is, to give education to
Filipino clerics, [114] whom they always considered their rivals
and political enemies.... For this reason the instruction given to
the Filipinos, who aspired to a sacerdotal career, was incomplete,
being reduced exclusively to rudiments, if they can be so called,
of logic, psychology, ethics, metaphysics, and dogmatic and moral
theology. In so far as political and social studies were concerned,
absolutely nothing was given, and clerics were even forbidden to
acquire knowledge of this character. Social education was unknown in
these seminaries; no consideration was given to the fact that clerics,
on account of their obligations and the constant intercourse they are
obliged to have with their parishioners, should be the best educated
men, with great knowledge of the ways of the world and of the human
heart. The moral education of the Filipino people, especially that
of the women, often retrogressed, and made absolutely no progress on
account of the influence caused by the status of the Filipino clerics
in the popular mind.
After the conciliar seminaries passed to the charge of the Paulist
fathers, affairs continued in the same manner, because these priests
were subject and subordinate to the rigid tutorship of the monastic
orders and the universitarian feudalism which the Dominican friars
exercised in the Philippine Islands, and it was not possible for them
to develop their own initiative, or to explain their own opinions....
[Doctrina y reglas constitucionales de la iglesia Filipina
independiente [i.e., "Doctrine and constitutional rules of the
independent Filipino church"] [115] (Manila, 1904), pp. 14, 15,
contains the following in regard to seminaries, which are analogous
to conciliar seminaries.]
The first duties of our bishops consist in establishing a good seminary
in their respective dioceses, which may serve as a training-school
for new priests, educated according to the new doctrines of the
independent Filipino church.
They shall exercise their whole care in seeking a suitable although
modest locality, and in catechising as many young men as possible,
who are fit for the lofty ministry of God. We desire that not only our
church, but more than anyone else the most reverend bishops themselves
recognize the great necessity for these seminaries. Consequently, their
negligence in this particular will be very fatal, and merit censure.
The effort shall be made to give the young men a complete instruction,
one concise and more nutritive than that of the interminable years
of unnecessary dissertations and fruitless "therefores," with which
the Roman priests feed the best years of our youth.
The plan of studies shall be based on the principle that we must begin
to learn the most necessary, secondly, the most useful, and thirdly,
the sciences that ought to always adorn the worthy priests of God. The
plan recommended in the fourth epistle of our church shall be followed.
But knowledge will be vain and useless in a priest, if he is not
adorned with the Christian virtues of holiness, altruism, obedience,
and zeal for the greater glory of God. Consequently, the young men
shall be instructed in the practice of an ascetic and disciplined
life, and they shall become accustomed to prayer, the sacraments,
and the exercises of evangelization.
Adjoined to the seminaries, the effort shall be made to create Catholic
schools and colleges for both sexes. Thus the selection of priests
will become more easy; and furthermore, [this shall be done] inasmuch
as it is of great importance for us to teach the divine teachings of
Jesus Christ and the redeeming doctrines of our church to the children.
[Pp. 42, 43, of the same rules, contain the following:]
The chief bishop shall contrive ways and means, now by imposing a
tax among the parish priests, now by begging alms for the support
and creation of Catholic seminaries and colleges, which are very
necessary for the propagation and defense of our church; as well as
to comply with our most sacred obligation of evangelizing the heathen
tribes, and satisfy other considerations of the subsecretaryship of
the propaganda of the faith.
In all other things not covered by these rules, the chief bishop shall
have power to decree, provided that he do not violate the spirit of the
same, after obtaining the opinion of the superior economical Council.
[The plan of studies above-mentioned is found on pp. 67, 68, of the
same book, and is as follows:]
5. The diocesan committees shall exert their efforts very earnestly
in creating with all haste, seminaries, in order to be able to
provide all the parishes with young and learned priests, since the
scarcity of priests is the principal pretext of the Roman priests,
in order that they may introduce foreign priests here. They shall
endeavor to attract as great a number of students as possible, with the
assurance that in two years' time only they will be given a complete,
concise, and more nutritive instruction than the interminable years
of unnecessary dissertations and fruitless "therefores" with which
the friars feed the best years of our young men, in order by that
method to hinder the multiplication and true education of our priests.
The plan of studies which shall be followed for the present shall be
as follows: