FROM
MISSION TO PROVINCE (1581-1768)
In 1581, the
first Jesuits from the Province of Mexico arrived in the Philippines. The
mission was headed by Fr. Antonio Sedeño, the Superior. His companions were Fr.
Alonso Sanchez and Brother Nicolas Gallardo. A fourth member, Scholastic Gaspar
Suarez de Toledo, had died during the voyage from Acapulco. In 1585, the first
novice was accepted, Juan Garcia Pacheco, a Spaniard. In 1591, mission stations
were established in Balayan, Batangas, in Taytay, and in Antipolo, Rizal. In
1593, the first Jesuit mission stations were established in the Visayas in
Tibauan, Panay. There, Fr. Pedro Chirino opened the first school of the Society
of Jesus in the Philippines. It was a catechetical school for natives. Later
the school was expanded with an elementary school both for Spanish and Filipino
boys. The first Filipino in the Society of Jesus was a certain Martin Sancho or
Sanchez. He was received into the Society in Rome. In 1601, he returned to the Philippines
but died shortly thereafter of tuberculosis.
In June of
1595, Fr. General Claudio Acquaviva made the Philippine Mission into a Vice
Province dependent on the Province of Mexico. Fr. Sedeño was its first
Vice-Provincial. In September of the same year, the College of Manila was
opened in the Jesuit compound in Intramuros on Calle Real (later Calle General
Luna). The College offered courses in grammar, philosophy, theology, and canon
law.
In the same
year, residences of Jesuits were established in Cebu, in Leyte, and in Samar.
Sometime later, residences were also built in Bohol and in Mindanao. The
residential College of San Jose, attached to the College of Manila, opened on
August 25, 1601. In 1605, just 24 years after the arrival of the first Jesuits,
Fr. General Acquaviva made the Philippine Vice Province into an independent
Province. By that time, the Province had 67 members who labored in one college
of higher studies (the College of Manila), one residential seminary (San Jose),
seven mission residences, and two mission stations.
In 1606, a
novitiate was opened in Antipolo, but later the novices were transferred to the
College of Manila. From 1622-1630, the novitiate was located in San Pedro,
Makati, but in 1630, it again returned to the College of Manila. The novitiate
building in Makati became a house of retreats and a villa house.
In 1656, 50
years after the establishment of the Province and 75 years after the founding
of the Mission, the membership of the Province had risen to 108 (74 priests, 11
scholastics, and 23 coadjutor Brothers). There were five colleges, one
novitiate, one Seminary-College, nine mission residences, and the spiritual
administration of 73 towns. In these 75 years, 372 Jesuits had come to the
Philippines from Europe and New Spain. 143 Jesuits had been admitted to and had
persevered in the Society in the Philippines. Three had been received as
priests, 23 as scholastics, and 117 as coadjutor brothers.
In 1668, the
Philippine Province established a mission in the Marianas Islands. This mission
later became a Vice Province dependent on the Philippine Province. By 1755, the
Philippine Province had the spiritual administration of 80 parishes and
missions in the Philippines and the Marianas, caring for a total population of
212,153 persons.
In 1768, the Jesuits were banished from the Philippines. On February 27,
1767, King Charles III of Spain had issued a decree banishing the Society of
Jesus from Spain and the Spanish dominions. This decree reached Manila on May
17, 1768. Between 1769 and 1771, the Jesuits in the Philippines were
transported to Spain and from there deported to Italy. The possessions of the
Province were declared forfeit to the crown except the obras pias, which were maintained as ecclesiastical
property. Among these was the College of San Jose, which continued to exist,
first under the administration of the secular clergy and later under that of
the Dominicans. The Jesuit parishes and missions were transferred to other
religious orders.
FROM
MISSION TO PROVINCE (1859 TO THE PRESENT)
Ninety years
would pass before the first Jesuit mission of the restored Society would return
to the Philippines. On June 14, 1859, a Tuesday morning, ten Jesuits
of the Aragon Province, six priests, and four coadjutor brothers, disembarked
from the frigate Luisita. They were led by their
Superior, Father José Fernández Cuevas. They entered Intramuros where they were
warmly welcomed by the Augustinian Friars, who took them to their villa house.
There, the Jesuits stayed for some time while their own residence was being
built. On the day of arrival, they presented themselves to the authorities and
informed them of the special purpose of their coming, namely the missions of
Mindanao and Jolό.
Soon after
their arrival, the Jesuits began the exploration of their new mission
territory. They set up missions, built parishes, opened mission schools,
administered the sacraments, and taught children catechism. They wrote the
first grammars and compiled the first dictionaries in Maguindanao, Tururay, and
Bagobo. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Society of Jesus had
taken over all the mission posts of Mindanao and Sulu.
Manila
residents were unwilling, however, to let all the Jesuits travel to far off
Mindanao. On August 5, 1859, less than a month after their arrival, a group
petitioned the Spanish Governor-General for the Jesuits to begin a school. The
Superior, Father Cuevas, refused because the mission of the Jesuits was to be
in Mindanao. The people insisted, and after discussing it with his men, Father
Cuevas decided to refuse unless the Governor would issue a written order. This
was done on October 1 of the same year transferring the direction of the Escuela Pia to the Jesuits. The school was
renamed Escuela Municipal, and classes began under the Jesuits
on December 10, 1859 with just 23 boys. Three months later the school had
increased to 170 students.
By 1909, the
school was formally renamed the Ateneo de Manila. It had primary, secondary,
and tertiary levels. Since that time, other Ateneos were founded in Zamboanga,
Cagayan de Oro, Naga, and Davao, along with other schools from the former
Chinese delegation and likewise in many small parishes in Mindanao and Culion.
The same ideals of excellence, of seeking to do more for love of God and
neighbor and country imbued them all.
In 1919, the
College of San Jose was restored to the Society as a Seminary for the education
of Filipino secular priests.
By 1920, the
Philippine Jesuit Mission had 157 members: 78 priests, 17 scholastics, and 62
coadjutor brothers. There were mission residences with 20 additional stations
in Butuan, Cagayan, Caraga, Cotabato, Culion, Dapitan, Davao, and Zamboanga. In
Manila, the Mission ministered at the Ateneo de Manila, San Ignacio Church, the
House of Probation and the College of San Jose, and the Observatory. In Vigan,
Jesuits ran a seminary and college.
1921 saw the
arrival in Manila of 22 Jesuits (12 priests and 10 scholastics) from the
combined Provinces of Maryland, New York, and New England, USA. In 1927, the
Philippine Mission was transferred to the Province of Maryland-New York from
the Province of Aragon by Fr. General Wlodimir Ledochowski. The first American
Superior appointed in April of 1927 was Fr. James J. Carlin, S.J. At that time,
the Mission had the following membership: 76 Americans, 68 Spaniards, 42
Filipinos.
On February
2, 1952, the Philippine Mission became the Philippine Vice-Province, with Fr.
Leo A. Cullum, S.J. as the first Vice Provincial. Another milestone was reached
when, on February 3, 1958, the Philippine Vice-Province was made into an
independent Province. Fr. Francis X. Clark, S.J., who had served as Vice
Provincial, became the first Provincial. By this time, the Province had 442
members: 239 (54%) Filipinos and 197 (45%) Americans. The Province maintained
residences in Cagayan and Zamboanga. There were seven Ateneos: Cagayan, Davao,
Manila, Naga, San Pablo, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga. The Province maintained a
novitiate and juniorate in Novaliches, and Berchmans College for philosophy
studies in Cebu City. In addition, it maintained a retreat house (La Ignaciana,
Manila), an observatory in Baguio, an institute of social order (Manila) and
the Provincial’s residence in the same city. The Society also administered two
seminaries, San Jose, Manila and San Jose, Mindanao. It also served in the
Philippine General Hospital and maintained the Culion and Zamboanga Sanitarium
Chaplaincies.
In 1965,
Father Horacio dela Costa, S.J. became the first Filipino Provincial. In the
sixties, too, a long-time dream came true: the Philippine Province opened its
own theologate, Loyola House of Studies, now known as Loyola School of
Theology, in the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.
Today the Philippine Province, in addition to all the works in the Philippines,
sends young men once more to foreign missions — to Cambodia, Myanmar, and East
Timor.
We remember
with gratitude more than 200 years of the presence of Jesuits in the
Philippines. We thank the Lord for the blessing of Jesuits from Europe, the
United States, Asia-Pacific, and the Philippines, who have labored in the
different ministries of the Province: as scientists at the Manila Observatory,
professors in the different Ateneos, pioneers and explorers in Mindanao, as catechists
and pastors, as teachers, and spiritual guides for many who desired a deeper
relationship with their God.
The article above is based on an outline by Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J. (published in 1958 in the Philippine Clipper) and the homilies of Fr. Jojo Magadia, SJ about the 150th anniversary of the return of the Jesuits to the Philippines.
