Roman Catholicism in the Philippines

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The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

Contents 1 Ecclesiastical Territories 2 Fiestas and religious holidays 3 Missionary work 4 Spanish Catholicism 5 American Occupation 6 Catholic Charismatic Renewal 7 Current events 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Ecclesiastical Territories

Main article: List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of the Philippines

The administration of the Catholic Church in the Philippines is divided into sixteen Ecclesiastical Provinces, each bearing the same name as the archdiocese in it. The provinces are divided into 72 dioceses. Additionally, there are seven Apostolic Vicariates and a Military Ordinariate.

Archdioceses

Archdiocese of Nueva Caceres (Camarines Sur) Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro (Misamis Oriental) Archdiocese of Capiz (Capiz) Archdiocese of Cebu (Cebu) Archdiocese of Cotabato (Maguindanao) Archdiocese of Davao (Davao del Sur) Archdiocese of Jaro (Iloilo) Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan (Pangasinan)

Archdiocese of Lipa (Batangas) Archdiocese of Manila Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia (Ilocos Sur) Archdiocese of Ozamiz (Misamis Occidental) Archdiocese of Palo (Leyte) Archdiocese of San Fernando (Pampanga) Archdiocese of Tuguegarao (Cagayan) Archdiocese of Zamboanga (Zamboanga del Sur)

Apostolic Vicariates

Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe (Mountain Province, Ifugao) Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan (Oriental Mindoro) Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo (Sulu) Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa (Palawan)

Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose de Mindoro (Occidental Mindoro) Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk (Kalinga) Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay (Palawan) Military Ordinariate of the Philippines

[edit] Fiestas and religious holidays

Roman Catholic holy days, such as Christmas, Good Friday, etc. are observed as official national holidays. Spanish-Mexican Culture and Catholicism has significantly influenced culture and traditions. On the 3rd Sunday of January the country celebrates the festival of the Santo Niño de Cebú, the largest being held in Cebu City.

[edit] Missionary work

Evangelism was done in the native language. Doctrina Christiana is a book of prayers in Tagalog published in the 16th century. When, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi set up the colonial system beginning 1565, he implemented an encomienda system where a native could acquire land if he underwent baptism and registered as a Catholic. Massive conversion occurred at this time.

[edit] Spanish Catholicism

Church and state were inseparable. The government assumed administrative responsibility, funding expenditures and selecting personnel, for the new ecclesiastical establishments. Responsibility for conversion to Christianity was assigned to the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Augustinians, known collectively as the friars and to the Jesuits. Although many friars were from Spain, others were from New Spain or Mexico.

The Catholic hierarchy took over some government roles, especially in the rural areas . Although they were not completely diabolic, neither were they saints. The Friars were notorious for fathering children, overtaxing land, limiting native ascendency and refusing civil government interference since they were under 'God's jurisdiction'. Three famous priests were implicated in trumped up charges because they were struggling for native ascendency. Their execution left a deep impression and outrage on many people including a future martyr and national hero who sought to open the eyes of passive natives to Spanish abuses. They were not totally evil either. Friars have also interceded for Filipinos when Spanish military and civil government were too harsh and provided counseling and education. The Noli Me Tangere exposed actual abuses by the friarchy in its satire and was quickly condemned by both the Spanish government and religious authorities. The friars and Jesuits were responsible for establishing some of Asia's oldest Universities and educational institutions in the Philippines.

[edit] American Occupation

See also Separation of church and state in the Philippines.

The American government (1898-1946) implemented the separation of Church and state. Many American friars, Jesuits and other Catholic religious orders as well as Protestant denominations have settled established themselves. William Howard Taft fully implemented policies on the Church. Ironically, when Apolinario Mabini put to vote, church and state separation at the Malolos Congress of 1898, the separation won by only a slight margin despite strong anti-friarcy sentiments.

At this same time, due to sentiments for independence, independent churches emerged such as the Aglipayan Church (which later aligned themselves with the Anglicans) and the Iglesia ni Kristo. This separation continues after indpendence in 1946 to the present day.

[edit] Catholic Charismatic Renewal

A number of Catholic Charismatic movements emerged vis-a-vis the Born-again movement during the 70s. The Charismatic movement offered Life-In-the-Spirit seminars in the early days which have now evolved and have different names. These seminars focus on the Charismas or gifts of the Holy Spirit.Some of the Charismatic movements were the Assumption Prayer Group, Couples for Christ and the El Shaddai. Charismatic movements profess to be ecumenical, similar to the evangelical and pentecostal Christians; in fact, many non-Catholic Christians also join this movement. Even though the movement is ecumenical, majority of its adherents are Catholics, in addition, leaders and speakers in these groups are sometimes Catholic priests.

[edit] Current events

As of 2005, the government promotes freedom and equality among all religions in the Philippines. However, most of the population (83%) are baptised Catholics. With 68% of the entire popualtion attending church weekly^[1].

The Catholic Church still has great influence on Philippine society and politics. One typical event is the role of the Catholic hierarchy is the EDSA Revolution of 1986. Then Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin called on the public to march along EDSA and force dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos to abdicate which occurred after seven million people responed.

In 2001, Cardinal Sin expressed his dismay over the allegations of corruption against Philippine president Joseph Estrada. His call sparked the second EDSA Revolution dubbed as "EDSA Dos". Estrada resigned after 5 continuous days of protest.

On the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared three days of national mourning. Arroyo herself attended the Pope's funeral in the Vatican.

Recent political turmoil in the Philippines widened the rift between the state and the Church. Arroyo's press secretary Ignacio Bunye called the bishops and priests who attended an anti-Arroyo protest as hypocrites and 'people who hide their true plans'. Yet many still await Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on this issue. Arroyo meanwhile professes to be a devout Catholic.

[edit] See also

• Christianity in the Philippines
• Protestants in the Philippines
• The Catholic Church in the Philippines by Giga-Catholic Information
• Hispanic culture in The Philippines
• List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of the Philippines
• Separation of church and state in the Philippines
• Christmas customs in the Philippines
• Culture of the Philippines

[edit] External links

This article incorporates material from the U.S. Library of Congress and is available to the general public.

• On Religious Freedom in the Philippines by the U.S. Department of State
• Library of Congress on Friatorcracy