Universities
are outstanding environments for articulating and developing this evangelizing commitment
in an interdisciplinary and integrated way. Catholic schools, which always strive
to join their work of education with the explicit proclamation of the Gospel, are
a most valuable resource for the evangelization of culture.
- Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium, 134.
Evangelization,
the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, takes several forms and uses various means
according
to the different circumstances of time, place and culture.[1]
This is true in the Philippine context.[2]
Since their arrival in the late 16th century, Spanish missionaries had
employed various ways of evangelizing the Filipinos. Aside from preaching in
churches, catechisms in the local dialects were written as early as 1581, and
eventually a Chinese and Spanish-Tagalog version of these catechisms were
printed in 1593, as aids in evangelization.[3]
The missionaries also made use of local customs that were deemed not offensive
to the faith as vehicle for transmitting the Christian message of salvation. This
dialogue between a foreign faith and local culture gave birth to a brand of
Catholicism that is laden with various popular devotions and practices.[4]
The
missionaries also saw education as a potent means of evangelization as it was
in Europe in the Middle Ages.[5]
The religious missionaries established the first educational institutions in
the country; some of them persisted to these days, are the University of Santo
Tomas (1611), and the Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1620) in Manila, both
administered by the Dominicans, and the Ateneo de Manila (1859), administered
by the Jesuits.[6] Even
after the introduction of the modern public school system in the Philippines in
1865, under the patronage of Queen Isabel II, the missionaries continued to play
a great role in the education of the Filipinos because the supervision and the
implementation of the public school system were entrusted to them by the Spanish
civil government.
After
the Philippine Revolution in 1896-1898 against the Spanish regime, and the
assumption of the Americans as the new colonial masters of the Filipinos, the
public school system went a drastic change which was detrimental to the
religious instruction. Since the public school system was no longer under the supervision
of the religious, religious instruction in public schools suffered a major
blow. Jose Fermilou Gutay, OFM states:
The educational system in
the Philippines went through sweeping changes with the arrival of the
Americans. If the teaching of religion was obligatory during the Spanish
colonial rule, it was banned in the American public school system. The Organic
Act of 1900, enacted by the Second Philippine Commission headed by William
Taft, created the Department of Public Instruction that controlled all schools
in the country. One of its controversial policies was the prohibition of the
teaching of religion in public schools.[7]
Despite
the setback in the religious instruction of the Filipinos, the Church persisted
in using education as her means to communicate the gospel message, and to
catechize the Filipino youth. She met this ban with protest and opposition, and
insisted that priests and catechists be allowed to give religious instructions
in public schools. Thankfully, Faribault Plan was enacted, which allowed
priests and catechists to give religious instruction in public schools for half
an hour, three times a week, to students whose parents or guardians permitted
it.[8]
This “victory” fought and won by the Church manifested the premium the Church
placed on religious instruction in the schools, be it Catholic or public.
The
post-Spanish Philippines witnessed the arrival of non-Spanish missionaries in
the country such as the Redemptorists (CSsR arrived in 1906), the Mill Hill
Missionaries (MHM arrived in 1906), the Scheut Missionaries
(CICM arrived in 1907), the Sacred Heart Missionaries (MSC arrived in 1908) and
the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD arrived in 1909). They came to the country upon
the invitation of the Philippine bishops, as answer to the need of priests and
religious who would man the parishes vacated by the Spanish missionaries. These
new arrivals made sure that “schools were put up in their mission areas.”
Female counterparts of the male congregations also came to the Philippines; Sisters
of St. Paul of Chatress (SPC arrived in 1904), Missionary Benedictine Sisters (MBST
arrived in 1906), Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS arrived
in 1909), Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM arrived in
1910), Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM arrived in 1912), and Good Shepherd
Sisters (RGS arrived in 1912). They too would establish schools in the country.[9]
Likewise, other women religious who had been in the country before the American
regime had already involved themselves in education; the Augustinian Sisters
(1883), French Assumption Sisters (1892), Beaterio de Santa Catalina de Sena (established
in 1696 and now known as the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine
of Siena), and Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus (established in 1725 and now
known as the Religious of the Virgin Mary). The Benedictine monks (OSB arrived
in 1895) opened their own college, the San Beda College in Manila (1901). The Brothers
of the Christian Schools (FSC arrived in March 1911) also opened De La Salle
University in Manila (June 1911). Gutay concludes that “the schools established
by all of these congregations helped to a great extent in promoting the
Catholic faith and bringing back those who had already departed from the
Church.” [10]
The
Spanish Dominicans had been involved in the education apostolate since 1611, with
the establishment of the University of Santo Tomas. After this, the Colegio de
San Juan de Letran established in 1620. Aside from these two venerable
educational institutions, the Spanish Dominicans also established other
colleges and schools in the later years of the Spanish regime. These are the
Seminary of Nueva Segovia (1865), Colegio de Santisimo Rosario in Lingayen,
Pangasinan (1890), Blessed Imelda School in Cagayan (1891), Colegio de San
Alberto Magno in Dagupan City (1892), Colegio de San Jacinto in Tuguegarao
(1892), Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Vigan (1892), and Colegio de
Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Lingayen (1894). During the American Period, the
Spanish Dominicans founded two colleges, namely, Colegio-Asilo de la Sagrada
Familia in Sta. Rita, Pampanga (1911), Colegio del Santisimo Rosario in Baguio
City (1915). In the post-war era, the
Spanish Dominicans accepted the Legazpi College in Legazpi City, Albay, and renamed
it, after the Angelic Doctor, Aquinas University of Legazpi (1965).[11]
On
December 8, 1971, the Dominican Province of the Philippines (DPP), composed
mostly by Filipino Dominicans, was inaugurated.[12]
The establishment of an indigenous province promised to enrich the Dominican
presence in the country through the Filipinos’ uniqueness and ingenuity. As the
Filipino Dominicans assumed control over most of apostolates of the Spanish Dominicans
in the country, education remains to be their priority. Education is still the
primary means for the Filipino Dominicans in doing evangelization.[13]
[1]
Paul VI,
Evangelii Nuntiadi, 40.
[2] John N.
Schumacher, SJ. Readings in the
Philippine Church History (Quezon City: Loyola School of Theology Ateneo de
Manila University, 1979) 43-44.
[3] Pablo Fernandez,
OP. History of the Church in the
Philippines (1521-1898) (San Juan: Life Today Publications, 1988) 435-436. Fray
Juan de Plasencia had already written a catechism in Tagalog as early as 1581,
for the use of his Franciscan confers assigned in various Tagalog-speaking
places. The Synod of Manila (1581-1586) approved the same catechism to be
adopted as the standard text for catechizing the natives. Before, 1593, Fray
Juan Cobo, a Dominican, had written a catechism in Chinese language, as the
Dominicans were assigned to administer to the spiritual well being of the
Chinese colony in the outskirts Manila. This work of Fray Cobo, together with a
catechism in Spanish and Tagalog, Doctrina Cristiana en Lengua Espanola y
Tagala, were printed in 1593 by a Dominican press in Binondo.
[4] For a full
discussion on the dialogue between local culture and the Christian faith, See
Leonardo N. Mercado, ed., Filipino Popular Devotions (Manila: Logos Publishing,
Inc, 2000).
[5] Thomas
E. Woods, Jr. How the Catholic Church
Built Western Civilization (Washington DC: Regnery Publishing Inc., 2005)
48.
[6]
Fernandez, 53-62. Pablo Fernandez took note that the Church, through the
religious missionaries, assumed the responsibility of educating the Filipinos
as early as the 16th century, when the Augustinians started a school
in Cebu in 1565. He discussed the education apostolate of the Church in the
Philippine, throughout the Spanish Colonial era, in three-fold manner, namely;
primary instruction, secondary teaching, and the university education.
[7]
Jose Fermilou Gutay, OFM. “Catholic Education and Church-State Relations until
Sixties.” In Philippine Local Churches
after the Spanish Regime: Quae Mari Sinico and Beyond, eds. Daniel Franklin
Pilario and Gerardo Vibar (Manila: Adamson University, 2015) 146.
[8] John Schumacher,
SJ, Readings in Philippine Church History (Quezon City: Loyola School of
Theology, 1979), 346.
[9] Gutay, 150.
[10] Ibid. 151.
[11] “Dominican
Apostolates in the Philippines,” In Lumina
Pandit: A Collection of Historical Treasures, ed. Angel Aparicio, OP
(Manila: UST Miguel de Benavides Library, 2010), 59-62.
[12] In the decree of
the establishment of DPP, it is stated that there are at least seven Spanish
Dominicans in the new Province. This was by reason of their assignment. Rolando
dela Rosa, OP, Beginnings of the Filipino
Dominicans. Third edition (Manila: UST Publishing House, 2014) 244.
[13]
In the Fundamental Statute IV of the Dominican Province of the Philippines,
retained, revised, and newly legislated in the Tenth Provincial Chapter at Our
Lady of the Rosary Convent, Manaoag, Pangasinan, held from April 10 to 30,
2012, evangelization through education is described as follow: “There are many
needs in the Church, but we focus our apostolic activities principally on the
evangelization through education. For centuries, Dominican presence in the Philippines
has always been understood in terms of empowering the youth to become future
leaders and role models of our people through a formative process, which
combines the development of reason, the deepening of faith, and the
internalization of Christian values. We renew our dedication to this task with
greater vigor and creativity, utilizing the means afforded us by modern
educational technologies.”
