500 years of christianity in The Philippines

The Philippines is having a year-long celebration of 500 years of Christianity in reference to the time when the first European explorers dashed their foot on this archipelago for the first time. It was in 1521 that the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his troops, on behalf of the Spanish empire, arrived and planted the cross in the Island of Cebu, and from there Christianity spread throughout the Country. Despite the colonial context through which the Christian faith came to the Philippines, it is the whole country that is celebrating this event because of their commendable capacity and audacity to battle against any form of colonialism while keeping the Christian faith. 

Preparation of the Jubilee Year

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has been working on this event for the last nine years. To prepare the faithful for this jubilee, the CBCP organized a nine-year novena with a specific theme each year as follows:  Integral Faith Formation (2013), The Laity (2014), The Poor (2015), The Eucharist and the Family (2016), The Parish as a Communion of Communities (2017), The Clergy and Religious (2018), The Youth (2019), Ecumenism and Inter-Religious Dialogue (2020), and finally, Missio ad gentes (2021). United, dioceses, parishes and different communities lived and explored these different themes through workshops, processions, pilgrimages, public masses, seminars, and different religious and non-religious activities each year. The outbreak of the ongoing pandemic curtailed gatherings making it hard to accomplish the plans for 2020-2021 activities. Meanwhile, some activities have shifted to online and social media platforms to keep up with the celebration.

The Actual Celebration

The year-long celebration formally began on April 4, 2021 – Easter Sunday – and will end on April 22, 2022. The first Easter Mass in the country held on the island of Limasawa and the first baptism in Cebu were among the events to be commemorated. “We remember with thanksgiving the first Mass celebrated in Limasawa Island on Easter Sunday, March 31 that same blessed year. We remember the baptism of Rajah Humabon who was given his Christian name Carlos and his wife Hara Amihan who was baptized Juana in 1521. Our eyes gaze on the Santo Niño de Cebu, the oldest religious icon in the Philippines, gift of Ferdinand Magellan to the first Filipino Catholics that same year”^[1], the CBCP wrote in its pastoral letter to prepare Catholics for the jubilee year.

From the 85 dioceses of the Philippines, about 537 churches have been identified as pilgrim churches for the quincentennial celebration of the evangelization of the country. According to the February 25 decree issued by Pope Francis to the CBCP, pilgrims who visit one of these churches at any time until April 22, 2022, may receive plenary indulgences. However, when the faithful make the pilgrimage, they have to meet the usual conditions of going to confession, receiving the Eucharist, and praying for the intentions of the pope. Moreover, pilgrims are asked to pray "for the fidelity of the Filipino people to their Christian calling, for the increase of priestly and religious vocations and the defense of the family, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, the profession of faith, and an invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary"^[2]. There is also a pilgrim’s ID which the faithful can use as they travel to and from the different pilgrim churches.

In line with this commemoration, Pope Francis has made two celebrations. On December 15, 2019, he celebrated the first Simbang Gabi^[3] at St. Peter’s Basilicas. During the homily of this Mass, the Pope acknowledged the role of the Filipino migrant workers in the growth of Catholicism and invited Filipinos to “continue being smugglers of the faith” in reference to how overseas Filipinos “smuggle” the faith even to countries where it is dangerous to be catholic. He also presided over the festive Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica on March 14, 2021, which was dedicated to the commemoration of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines. Pope Francis thanked the few Filipinos who joined that mass and those who were following it in live streaming, for the joy of the gospel which they bring to Christian communities and the whole world.

The Missionary Nature of the Celebration

The Center for Global Education in Asian Society^[4] considers the Philippines as the only Christian nation in Asia. According to its statistics, more than 86 percent of the Filipinos are Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to over 100 Protestant denominations. There is also a non negligeable 4 percent of the Muslim minority, concentrated on the southern islands of the country, and finally, 2 percent scattered in isolated mountainous regions practicing indigenous beliefs. In the capital city, Metro Manila, there is also a multicultural influence “coloring Filipino Catholicism with many of the beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism” due to other minorities from neighboring countries, mainly China.

These various representations could be the reason why the CBCP chose to end the nine-year thematic novena with the theme of missio ad gentes. However, in the words of bishop Socrates, chairman of the CBCP’s episcopal commission on mission, they chose this theme “because the coming of Christianity to our beloved land is a gift that we cannot keep for ourselves, we need to share this special gift with others”^[5]. In fact, the ending theme of the nine-year novena gives place to the theme of the actual celebration of this Jubilee that is “GIFTED TO GIVE”. It is taken from the gospel according to St. Matthew 10:8, where Jesus Christ is telling his apostles: “Freely you have received. Freely give”.  It’s actually Christ’s order for his disciples to do all, to give all they have got for their work and mission of apostolate. These various themes, which were addressed in various ways throughout the planning and actual celebration of the Jubilee, have imbued the entire event with a missionary spirit. This missionary spirit is more stressed by the sourcebook for mission education and animation titled “Go, Teach, Make Disciples”, written by our professor James H. Kroeger MM and launched during the opening ceremony of the celebration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. As a sourcebook for mission education, this book is divided into twelve chapters. At the end of each chapter, the author leaves readers with some questions for reflection.

Right from the first chapter, we are given two questions that each missionary working in the Philippines should think about. “What has been the role of foreign missionaries in preserving the faith in the Philippines? And “Are Missionaries from other countries still needed in the Philippines?”^[6] Some historical records consider the Augustinian Recollects as those who started the actual or formal evangelization of the country since 1564. They were followed by the Franciscans (1578), the Jesuits (1581), and the Dominicans (1587)^[7]. These were the pioneers of evangelization in the Philippines. The missionaries from these different congregations spread the seeds of the Catholic faith throughout the land against all the challenges of their time. They created communion and witnessed to Gospel values through their way of life. Some of them engaged in the education sector while others promoted the formation and training of the local clergy. Still, others were committed to social actions and all kinds of services to improve the human condition of the Filipinos. The untiring commitment of the foreign missionaries together with the local clergy, the laypeople, and all the people of goodwill, have prepared the ground, sow the seed of the Christian faith, and God is making it bear fruits up to the point that the Filipinos has become the standard-bearer of the Christian faith in Asia.

Are foreign missionaries still needed in the Philippines?

With such a flourishing missionary activity, at least in terms of numbers, as seen by the statistics above, it seems appropriate to revisit the following question: “Are missionaries from other countries still needed in the Philippines?” Is not time to pack things and “go to other places because there, the gospel must be preached too?”. Underneath the visible numbers and statistics of the Christianity in the Philippines and the CBCP’s various missionary endeavors intended to share “what” they have received freely beyond the borders of the archipelago - as a sign of a matured faith – there lies a real struggle of bringing the Gospel in all the dimensions of life, i.e., beyond the religious sphere. Social structures are still in need of a different view of the reality of life in communion, the real sense of communion as intended by the Lord Jesus Christ. Here an outsider can inspire a different culture of communion that goes beyond individualism due to social classes.

Moreover, there are still, for instance, voices calling for the separation of the Church from the State as if they were two incompatible entities instead of promoting more collaboration in this area in order to help the Filipino people with both the necessary spiritual and human needs. With this being said, foreign missionaries are still needed not because of what they can do, as different from what the local clergy, the religious, and lay can do; but they are needed because of “who” they are: witnesses to the missionary life itself. It means that even when they do work in parishes and other pastoral settings, even though they may be doing the same work of proclaiming the Gospel, the foreign missionaries stand out as a symbol of missionary life itself. In this aspect, they are a continuing reminder to Filipinos that faith has to be shared; that “it’s worth it to offer one’s life for the sake of the Gospel”; that it’s a Gospel mandate to leave one’s family, nation, and comfort zone to follow Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Both in its preparation and actual celebration, the Jubilee of 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines reveals to be a timely impetus for missionary spirit and therefore a joyful response of the Church in the Philippines to the Church’s timeless vocation to evangelize. On the logical and evangelical basis that “what you have received freely you should share freely”, the CBCP considers that Jesus has been and is truly the Way, the Truth, and the Life of the Filipino people. Therefore, there should be no reason not to want and share Him with brothers and sisters around the world. There should be no hindrance to sharing the gospel of Christ to those who are yet to know and love Him, who are yet to receive the fullness of Life for which all humans have been created. Without this fullness of life their hearts will be ever restless – until they find Jesus and His heart waiting for them^[8].

By Mugisho Bisimwa Pasteur, sx

^[1] https://cbcponline.net/cbcp-pastoral-letter-on-the-era-of-new-evangelization-short-version.

^[2] https://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/pope-grants-plenary-indulgence-for-500-years-of-christianity-in-ph

^[3]Simbang Gabi is a devotional, nine-day series of Masses attended by Filipino Catholics in preparation for Christmas. It is held daily from December 16 to 24 and occurs at different times between 03:00 a.m. and 05:00 a.m.

^[4] https://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines (Accessed December 07, 2021)

^[5] James H. Kroeger: Go, Teach, Make Disciples. A sourcebook for Mission Education and Animation, CBCP, 2020.

^[6] Kroeger James: Go, Teach, Make Disciples, p. 13.

^[7] Tinig Loyola, A Student Publication of the Loyola School of Theology (Vol. 22, 2020-2021).

^[8] https://cbcponline.net/cbcp-pastoral-letter-on-the-era-of-new-evangelization-short-version (Emphasis is mine).