Where was the first Mass in the Philippines

held?

ByEFREN L. DANAO

January 23, 2015

THE visit of Pope Francis will inevitably resurrect a controversial and unresolved issue on the
introduction of Christianity to the Philippines – just where was the first Holy Mass celebrated?
On his arrival, the Pope noted that the Church in the Philippines was preparing to celebrate the
fifth centenary of the “first proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on these shores.”

The introduction of Christianity on Philippine shores is generally linked to the celebration of the
first Holy Mass, and Butuan City and Limasawa, Southern Leyte, both claim to be the venue of
this historical religious rite. A dear friend, Rolly Narciso, is among those feverishly pushing for
the official recognition of Masau in Butuan City as the true site. It’s hope that this controversy
in the country’s history will have been resolved by March 31, 2015 when the Philippines
celebrates its 500th year of Christianization.

Actually, the National Historical Institute (NHI) has already reached a conclusion after a two-
year study. In 1996, it reaffirmed the popular belief propelled by Republic Act 2733 that the first
Holy Mass was celebrated in Limasawa Island on March 31, 1521.The NHI cited the memoirs of
Antonio Pigafetta, who chronicled the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, as “the only credible
primary source that yields the best evidence of the celebration of the first Christian Mass on
Philippine soil.” This issue, however, remains debatable despite the pronouncement from the
NHI.

Tomas “Buddy” Gomez 3rd, a one-time press secretary of President Cory, disagreed with the
NHI on naming Limasawa as the true venue and called for the correction of this “long-standing
historical error.” No, he doesn’t contest that Pigafetta had indeed written that a Mass was held
in Limasawa on that Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521, “There us, however, on inescapable and
irrefutable fact: “Pigafetta NEVER said that the Easter Mass in Limasawa was the ‘first.’ Neither
did any of the survivors of Magellan’s expedition,” Buddy added in a post to his Facebook
friends, including this columnist.
He noted that while a Jesuit wrote in 1663 that the first Mass was held in Limasawa, he
considered this as a mere opinion and not a fact. He lamented that subsequent “copycat”
historians entrenched this “historical error.”

“An unrecorded first Mass, of necessity, comes springing out into more credible contention,”
Buddy wrote.

He wondered if a Mass was celebrated on Philippine shores before the 1521 Easter Sunday. He
cited records showing that Magellan stayed in Homonhon (now a part of Samar Island) for eight
days, including March 24 which was Palm Sunday.

“Is Easter Sunday Mass ever celebrated without being preceded by Mass on a Palm Sunday,” he
asked. He then argued that the First Mass could actually have been held not in Limasawa or
Masau but in Homonhon.

He expressed the hope that Pope Francis would return to the Philippines when the country
celebrates its Fifth Centenary of Christianity and that by then “all historical inexactitude” would
have been resolved collectively by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and the
leadership of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2015/01/23/opinion/columnists/first-mass-philippines-
held/157730/