ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY.
There are in the Philippines one archiepiscopal and three episcopal
sees. The metropolitan archbishopric of Manila was founded by Clement
VII. in 1595, and endowed by Philip II. with a revenue of 500,000
maravedis (= 200l. sterling). The bishopric of New Segovia was
created at the same time with a similar endowment. The see is now
(1859) vacant. The bishopric of Cebu was established in 1567, soon
after the conquest of the island by the Spaniards. Nueva Caceres has
also a bishop. The selection of candidates for these ecclesiastical
honours has been generally left to the religious brotherhood who
are most numerous in the district where there is a vacancy, and the
candidate, being approved by the sovereign of Spain, is submitted to
the Pope for confirmation. Some nominations have taken place where
the bishop elect has not been willing to quit the mother-country
for the colonies, which I was informed had caused the adoption of
a resolution not to install a bishop until he has taken possession
of his see. Most of the ecclesiastical authority is in the hands of
the friars or regular clergy. There are proportionally few secular
priests in the islands. The Dominicans and Augustine monks have large
possessions, especially in the central and southern provinces; the
Franciscans are most numerous in the northern. To the hospitality
and kindness of the friars during the whole of my journey I bear a
willing and grateful testimony. Everywhere the convents were opened
to us with cordial welcome, and I attribute much of the display of
attention on the part of the Indians to the reception we everywhere
experienced from the Spanish padres. The Dominican monks have charge
of the mission to Fokien, in China, and Tonquin.
The ecclesiastical records of the Philippines overflow with evidences
of the bitter, and sometimes bloody, controversies of the Church
with the civil authority, and with quarrels of the religious bodies
among themselves. In the year 1710 the Dominicans declared themselves
not subject to the jurisdiction of diocesan visits. One of their
resolutions says:--"The provinces hold it for evident and certain
that such visits would lead to the perdition of religious ministers,
which is the opinion that has been for many years held by grave
and zealous ecclesiastics and superior prelates who have dwelt in
the province." In 1757 the Augustine friars (calzados) were menaced
with the confiscation of their property if they denied the supreme
authority and the admission of parochial curates regularly appointed;
and they resolved that such submission "would be the ruin of their
institution and to the notable detriment of souls." In 1767 Benedict
XIV. published a bull insisting on the recognition of the metropolitan
authority, which was still resisted by the Augustines. In 1775 a
royal mandate was issued at Madrid insisting that all regular curates
be submitted to their provincial in questions de vitâ et moribus,
to the bishop, in all matters of spiritual administration, and to the
captain-general as vice-regal patron. Whether the ecclesiastical police
is better kept by the interference of the higher authorities, or by
the independent action among themselves of the different religious
orders, is a question much debated, but the substantive fact remains
that the friar has an enormous and little-controlled influence in the
locality of his cure, and that where abuses exist it is very difficult
to collect evidence, and still more so to inflict punishment in case
of his misdoings.
It cannot be denied that, in the language of Tomas de Comyn, "the
missionaries were the real conquerors of the Philippines; their arms
were not, indeed, those of the warrior, but they gave laws to millions,
and, scattered though they were, they established by unity of purpose
and of action a permanent empire over immense multitudes of men." Up
to the present hour there are probably few parishes in which the
gobernadorcillo, having received a mandate from the civil authority,
fails to consult the friar, and the efficiency and activity of the
Indian functionary in giving effect to the mandate will much depend
on the views the padre may take of the orders issued.
Religious processions are the pride and the passion of the Filipinos,
and on great festivals they bring together prodigious crowds both
as actors and spectators. The most brilliant are those which take
place after sunset, when some thousands of persons carry lighted
wax candles, and the procession is sometimes a mile long, composed
of all the military and civil authorities and of the ecclesiastical
functionaries, vying with each other in the display of their zeal and
devotion. On these occasions splendidly dressed images of the various
objects of veneration form an important part of the ceremonial. I
was assured that the jewels worn by the image of Nuestra Señora de
la Imaculada Concepcion on the day of her festival exceeded 25,000
dollars in value. Numerous bands of music accompany the show. One of
the most interesting parts of the exhibition is the number of little
girls prettily and fancifully dressed in white, who follow some of
the images of the saints or the palio of the archbishop. One of the
processions witnessed was forty minutes in passing, and of immense
length, the whole way being lined with bearers of wax lights on
both sides. There seems a rivalry among the religious orders as to
whose displays shall be the most effective and imposing. The images
are of the size of life, and clad in gorgeous garments encumbered
with ornaments. They are borne on the shoulders of their votaries,
occupying a platform, whence they are visible to the crowd. [14]
These religious ceremonials, so dear to, and so characteristic of,
the Filipinos, are called Pentacasi. Everybody seems to take a part,
whether within or without doors. All invite or are invited, and busy
hands are engaged in making sweetmeats, preparing meats, or adorning
apartments (with furniture borrowed from all sides, a favour to be
reciprocated in turn), musicians are collected, strangers are sought
for, and universal bustle pervades the locality.
"On the eve preceding the festival," says a native author, describing
what takes place in the neighbourhood of Manila, "the pueblo exhibits
all the activity of preparation. In the streets, handsome arches are
constructed of bamboo, covered with painted linen, and representing
various orders of architecture; graceful drapery is suspended over
the arch, which has sundry openings or windows, in which variegated
lanterns are placed (an art taught, no doubt, by the Chinese, who
possess it in perfection). Within the lanterns ornamented figures
are kept in perpetual movement by the heated atmosphere. Nosegays of
artificial flowers, groups of fruits, and various devices decorate
the houses, and the local musicians serenade the priests and the
authorities; while the whole population crowd the church for the
vesper service. The dalagas (girls) prepare their gayest attire to
take part in the procession, in which queens and saints and various
scriptural personages are represented by the Zagalas or females of
the leading families, in garments of velvet and gold, with all the
jewels that can be collected--not that always the costume testifies to
much classical or historical knowledge; it is, however, very gay and
gorgeous, satisfactory to the wearers, admired and applauded by the
spectators. Popular songs are sung to the music of the guitar, and the
gaieties are carried on to the midnight hour. At eight o'clock on the
following morning mass is attended, a sermon preached, a procession
follows, and all retire to their dwellings to escape the heat of the
day; but in the principal houses repasts are ready for any guests who
may call, and a considerable variety of Indian dishes are laid out
upon the table. At four P.M., the military arrive with their music,
and generally the village musicians and the church choir assemble near
the church, and welcome the many visitors who come from the capital. So
great is the crowd of carriages, that they are not allowed to pass
through the streets, but their occupiers quit them at the entrance of
the pueblo, and make their way to the hosts who have invited them. A
great number of Spanish ladies from Manila are generally seated at the
windows to witness the busy scene. Not only are the streets crowded
by the gaily dressed inhabitants, but multitudes of Indians come from
the interior to take part in the festivity. The native authorities,
preceded by music, then visit the various houses to collect the
Zagalas, who come forth in their regal robes and crowns, with a suite
of attendants. There is a great display of fireworks, rockets, and
balloons, and the procession proceeds to the church. It is a grand day
for the gallera, or cockpit, which resembles the bull-fight arena in
Spain: it is filled to suffocation with noisy and excited actors and
spectators; immense bets are laid; booths surround the place, where
food and drink are sold, and among the delicacies roasted sucking-pigs
abound. The procession usually starts at six P.M. All those who take
part bear a lighted wax-candle: first, the children of the pueblo;
then the soldiers; then the image of the Virgin, with an escort
of veiled women; then the image of the saint of the day or of the
place, the car drawn by a number of dalagas in white garments, bearing
garlands and crowns of flowers, followed by the authorities and by the
priest in his golden cope; then a military band and cavalry soldiers;
then the principal Zagala, whose queenly train is borne by eight or
ten Indian girls, in white garments, adorned with flowers. Other
Zagalas, personifying the Christian virtues, follow--Faith, Hope,
Charity, with their characteristic attributes. Sometimes there are
cars in which scenes of Scripture are exhibited by living actors;
others displaying all the fancies of devotees. The procession parades
the streets till the night is far advanced; the images are then
restored to the church, and other amusements begin. The principal
guests are invited to an open, but temporarily erected building,
handsomely curtained, and brilliantly lighted, in the centre of
which is a large table, covered with delicacies, and ornamented with
groups and pyramids of flowers. The first attentions are shown to the
ecclesiastics, and then to the other visitors, according to their rank
and position. The streets and houses being illuminated as the night
advances, the principal inhabitants gather their guests together,
and at ten P.M. there are displays of fireworks and balloons, in
which the rivalry of the pyrotechnic artists of the capital have a
fine field for exercise. Most of the pueblos around Manila have their
festival days, and in the competition for giving glory to their local
saints and patrons, they seek to outdo the capital itself. Santa Cruz,
which is an opulent and populous locality, rejoices in the protection
of St. Stanislaus, and outbids most of the rest for ostentatious show,
in which the inhabitants of Manila take an active part. The Chinese
have their day in celebrating St. Nicholas in Guadalupe. Tondo has
its distinguished festivals. Binondo is great and gorgeous on the
day of "Our Lady of the Rosary of Saint Dominic." Sampaloc claims
"Our Lady of Loreto." Santa Ana worships "Our Lady of the abandoned
ones" (de los desamparados). Pandacan has its gatherings in honour
of "The sweet name of Jesus," and its beautiful scenery adds to the
attractions of the place. St. Sebastian processionizes its silver car,
in which "Our Lady of Carmel" is conveyed in state. The suspensions
caused by the rainy months, Lent, and a few other interruptions,
are compensated by the extra ceremonials and festivities of the holy
weeks, and other seasons of Catholic gratulation. The mere list of
all these fiestas would occupy pages, and it was my good fortune to
visit the islands at a time when I had an opportunity of witnessing
many of these characteristic exhibitions.
The opulence of the individual monks, and of some of the monkish
fraternities in the islands, has often and naturally been a subject of
reproach. The revenues received by individuals are in many localities
very large, amounting in remote districts to eight or nine thousand
dollars a year, and much more, it is reported, in such populous pueblos
as Binondo. Some of these communities also possess large tracts of
land, whose management is superintended at periodical meetings held in
the capital, when friars from the different provinces, and of the same
brotherhood, are summoned to give an account of their stewardship, and
to discuss the general interests of the fraternity. The accumulations
of the friars pass to the convents at their death, but they have
little difficulty in disposing of them while living.
It has been said that the policy of the friars in the Philippines
is to conduct the Indian to heaven by a pathway of flowers. Little
molestation will he experience from his ghostly father, if he be strict
in his religious observances, pay his regular contributions to Church
and State, and exhibit those outward marks of respect and reverence
which the representatives of the Deity claim as their lawful heritage;
but there are many thorns amidst the flowers, and drawbacks, on the
heavenly road; and the time may come when higher and nobler aspirations
than those which now satisfy the poor untutored, or little tutored,
Indian, will be his rule of conduct.
The personal courtesies, the kind reception and multifarious
attentions which I received from the friars in every part of the
Philippines naturally dispose me to look upon them with a friendly
eye. I found among them men worthy of being loved and honoured, some
of considerable intellectual vigour; but literary cultivation and
scientific acquirements are rare. Occupied with their own concerns,
they are little acquainted with mundane affairs. Politics, geography,
history, have no charms for those who, even had they the disposition
for study, would, in their seclusion and remoteness, have access
to few of its appliances. Their convents are almost palatial, with
extensive courts, grounds and gardens; their revenues frequently
enormous. Though their mode of life is generally unostentatious and
simple, many of them keep handsome carriages and have the best horses
in the locality; and they are surrounded generally by a prostrate and
superstitious population, upon whose hopes and fears, thoughts and
feelings, they exercise an influence which would seem magical were
it not by their devotees deemed divine. This influence, no doubt,
is greatly due to the heroism, labours, sufferings and sacrifices
of the early missionaries, and to the admirably organized hierarchy
of the Roman Church, whose ramifications reach to the extremest
points in which any of the forms or semblances of Christianity
are to be discovered. Volumes upon volumes--the folio records of
the proceedings of the different religious orders, little known
to Protestant readers--fill the library shelves of these Catholic
establishments, which are the receptacles of their religious history.
The most extensively influential brotherhood in the Philippines is
that of the Augustines (Agostinos Calzados), who administer to the
cure of more than a million and a half of souls. The barefooted
Augustines (Agostinos Descalzos, or Recoletos) claim authority
over about one-third of this number. The Dominicans occupy the
next rank, and their congregations are scarcely less numerous than
those of the barefooted Augustines. Next come the Franciscans, who
are supposed to rank with the Dominicans in the extent of their
authority. Independently of the monastic orders and the superior
ecclesiastic authorities, there are but a small number of parochial
or secular clergy in the Philippines.
On occasions of installations under the "royal seal," the ceremonies
take place in the church of the Augustines, the oldest in Manila,
where also the regimental flags receive their benediction, and other
public civil festivals are celebrated. A convent is attached to
the church. Both the regular Augustines and the Recoletos receive
pecuniary assistance from the State. The Franciscans rank next to
the Augustines in the number of their clergy.
A source of influence possessed by the friars, and from which a great
majority of civil functionaries are excluded, is the mastery of the
native languages. All the introductory studies of ecclesiastical
aspirants are dedicated to this object. No doubt they have great
advantages from living habitually among the Indian people, with
whom they keep up the most uninterrupted intercourse, and of whose
concerns they have an intimate knowledge. One of the most obvious
means of increasing the power of the civil departments would be in
encouragement given to their functionaries for the acquirement of
the native idioms. I believe Spanish is not employed in the pulpits
anywhere beyond the capital. In many of the pueblos there is not a
single individual Indian who understands Castilian, so that the priest
is often the only link between the government and the community, and,
as society is now organized, a necessary link. It must be recollected,
too, that the different members of the religious brotherhoods are
bound together by stronger bonds and a more potent and influential
organization than any official hierarchy among civilians; and the
government can expect no co-operation from the priesthood in any
measures which tend to the diminution of ecclesiastical authority
or jurisdiction, and yet the subjection of that authority to the
State, and its limitation wherever it interferes with the public
well-being, is the great necessity and the all-important problem
to be solved in the Philippines. But here, too, the Catholic
character of the government itself presents an enormous and almost
invincible difficulty. Nothing is so dear to a Spaniard in general
as his religion; his orthodoxy is his pride and glory, and upon this
foundation the Romish Church naturally builds up a political power and
is able to intertwine its pervading influence with all the machinery
of the civil government. The Dutch have no such embarrassment in
their archipelago.
The Captain-General has had the kindness to furnish me with the latest
returns of the ecclesiastical corporations in the Philippines (dated
1859). They are these:--
--------------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
| Tribu- | Souls. | Bap- | Mar- | Deaths.
| taries. | | tisms. | riages. |
--------------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
| | | | |
Recoletos: | | | | |
Archbishopric of Manila | 29,899 | 122,842 | 5,335 | 1,166 | 3,334
Province of Zebu | 90,701 | 454,279 | 18,559 | 4,166 | 6,500
+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
Total | 120,600 | 577,121 | 23,894 | 5,332 | 9,834
+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
| | | | |
Franciscans: | | | | |
Archbishopric of Manila | 60,936 | 227,866 | 7,988 | 1,923 | 7,896
Bishopric of New Caceres| 72,477 | 289,012 | 9,957 | 2,505 | 7,020
Bishopric of Zebu | 57,778 | 237,583 | 9,941 | 2,260 | 4,691
+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
Total | 191,191 | 754,461 | 27,886 | 6,688 | 19,607
+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
| | | | |
Augustines: | | | | |
Archbishopric of Manila | 162,749 | 678,791 | 28,826 | 6,194 | 20,669
Bishopric of Ilocos | 85,574 | 357,218 | 15,775 | 4,218 | 8,383
Bishopric of Zebu | 136,642 | 607,821 | 27,049 | 4,049 | 16,361
+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
Total | 384,965 |1,643,830 | 71,650 | 14,461 | 45,413
+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
| | | | |
Dominicans: | | | | |
Archbishopric of Manila | 20,803 | 74,843 | 3,230 | 603 | 2,806
New Segovia | 77,314 | 352,750 | 1,374 | 3,909 | 9,216
+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
Total | 98,117 | 427,593 | 4,604 | 4,512 | 12,022
--------------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+--------
The Dominicans have charge of the missions to the province of
Fokien in China and Tonquin. They report in 1857:--In Fokien: 11,034
confessions and 10,476 communions, 1,973 infant and 213 adult baptisms,
284 marriages and 288 confirmations. In Eastern Tonquin: 3,283 infant
and 302 adult baptisms, 4,424 extreme unctions, 64,052 confessions,
60,167 communions and 658 marriages. In Central Tonquin: 5,776 infant
and 400 adult baptisms, 32,229 extreme unctions, 141,961 confessions,
131,438 communions and 1,532 marriages.