I.

Introduction:

Religious Education in the Philippines

The Philippines is the most predominantly Catholic country in Asia. Its culture and

tradition have been influenced by Christianity since the Spanish came in 1500s to colonize

what was then an archipelago ruled by different and oftentimes warring tribes headed by local

chieftains or datu. Since then, Christian doctrines and teachings had been integrated into the

local or native and pre-colonial culture. Today, what can be considered Filipino is an

integration of both the local or native pre-colonial traits and practices and the colonial

influences – Spanish and American and the influences of the early trading partners of the

natives – the Chinese and the Malays. One important aspect of the Filipino culture where

Christianity made a lasting impact is in education. Christian education is perhaps one of the

enduring influences of the Spanish.

The nature of Catholic education cannot be separated from the nature of the Catholic

Church which forms as the basis of why the Catholic schools are instituted. The Catholic

Church according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church was conceived to continue the

mission of Christ here on earth. It is called to proclaim the good news to all people in all

nations. The Catholic schools serve as the arms of the Catholic Church in extending this

mission of proclaiming the good news through education. According to the Sacred
Congregation for Catholic Education, the Catholic schools serve as an agency for education in

faith, a means toward the attainment of the salvific mission of the Catholic Church.

Catholic schools continue to promote the value for caring for others and values

formation through their Christian religious formation programs. Catholic schools integrate into

their curriculum Christian education. The aim of Christian education according

to Gravissimum Educationis (#1) is “the formation of the human person in the pursuit of his

ultimate end and of the good of the societies of which, as man, he is a member, and in whose

obligations, as an adult, he will share.” It further states that Christian education is tasked to

develop harmoniously the persons’ physical, moral, and intellectual endowments so that they

may gradually acquire a mature sense of responsibility in striving endlessly to form their own

lives properly and in pursuing true freedom as they surmount the vicissitudes of life with

courage and constancy.

In the Philippines, the Catholic schools are much an integral and important component

of education. There are Catholic schools in all levels of education – from the preschool,

elementary, high school, and tertiary or college level. These Catholic schools, while relying

mainly on their own resources and efforts, strive to offer quality education not only to

Catholics but to other students of different faiths. They provide decent classrooms and

facilities even in remote towns and barrios and often provide free education as part of their

community development programs to indigent students. Many Catholic schools are

consistently among the top schools not only in the country but also around the globe. Three of

the top four universities in the Philippines are Catholic universities, namely, Ateneo de Manila

University, University of Santo Tomas, and De La Salle University. At great expense the
Catholic schools recruit, train, and develop their teachers and personnel, thus contributing a big

share in the task of developing and empowering the educational workforce of the society.

Advanced studies and researches are undertaken by these Catholic schools mostly out

of their own budget, thereby contributing to the advancement of society without incurring

much burden on the part of the government. Catholic schools generate their own resources and

assist the government in providing employment and saving financial resources. In fact,

Catholic schools in the Philippines have been a major contributor to the professional sector of

our country. It is not altogether surprising then that quality education is almost always

appended to Catholic schools. As already mentioned majority of these schools are not

exclusive to Catholics but serve peoples of other faiths; others are dedicated to out of school

youths, to the handicapped, to the poor, to cultural minorities, and to the other marginalized

sectors of the society.

A brief History of the Foundation of the SVD - Societas Verbi Divini (Society of the Divine

Word)

In September 8, 1875, during the height of European colonialism, Saint Arnold Janssen founded

his missionary order, the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), in Steyl, Netherlands. From humble

beginnings, the SVD has grown into the largest international missionary congregation in the

Catholic Church.

Born in Goch, Germany into a devoutly Catholic family, Saint Arnold was greatly influenced by

the faith of his father, who revered the Holy Trinity, and the Word Incarnate. These would
become integral to SVD spirituality and charism, and because of his devotion to the Word of

God, Saint Arnold named his missionary society, “Divine Word.”

Educated in math and science, Saint Arnold was ordained in 1861 and became a teacher. A few

years later, he joined the Apostleship of Prayer League and in 1873, left teaching to focus on his

duties as its director. He found success in writing and eventually published a magazine, Little

Messenger of the Sacred Heart, which helped him discover that not only could he raise money

through his publications, but German Catholics supported the missions. Many of the colonial

powers, like France and Italy, had missions to their colonies, but Germany did not. In fact under

the government of Otto von Bismarck, Catholicism was being repressed.

Encouraged to create a German-sending missionary order, he attracted three young candidates to

travel with him across the German border, to a former inn in Steyl, Netherlands, where he

founded the Society of the Divine Word on September 8, 1875.

Two of the three left over a disagreement with Saint Arnold, who insisted each member of his

society be bound by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The norm in other countries at the

time was for missionary societies to be made up of diocesan priests, who were only bound to the

society by a promise to serve in the missions.

After the two left, however, word spread that there was a German missionary society in Steyl,

and candidates came in numbers. Before the first year was done, Saint Arnold had to add on to

the little inn. Over the next five years, he had to add four new buildings, all to accommodate the

growing number of men interested in serving in the mission

First Mission in China

In 1879, Saint Arnold sent his first two SVD missionaries to China. Fr. John Baptist Anzer,

SVD, became a bishop in China, and Saint Joseph Freinademetz, SVD, who never returned to

Germany, was canonized a Saint of the Church, by Pope John Paul II, with Saint Arnold, in

2003.

Brothers join the order

Meanwhile, the primary source of funding for the SVD and its missions was its printed

publications. Workers Saint Arnold brought on to do much of the work began to express a desire

to be more a part of the society, so in 1878, Saint Arnold added the brotherhood to the society by

accepting two candidates, and in 1881, Mercolinus Elskemper was the first to take vows as a

brother member of the SVD.

Religious women come on board

In 1889, realizing the need for missionary Sisters, Fr. Arnold co-founded the Missionary Sisters

Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) with Blessed Mother Maria Helena Stollenwerk and Blessed

Mother Josefa Hendrina Stenmanns. In 1896, they co-founded a cloistered congregation,

the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (SSpSAP). Both of

these religious orders collaborate, on mission and through dedicated prayer, to the mission of the

Society of the Divine Word.

SVD Missionaries in Abra, Philippines

Missionary work started almost 100 years ago in the northern Philippines by foreign priests from

the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) is now largely continued by Filipinos. 

Much of the society’s work now involves local laypeople, Divine Word Father Antonio Pernia

told about 5,000 people gathered at a thanksgiving Mass at Our Lady of the Pillar Church in San

Isidro, Abra province, on Aug. 23. The Filipino priest is the first Asian to serve as superior

general of the society, founded in the Netherlands. The Mass he led capped a three-year

celebration of SVD missioners´ arrival in the country. Fathers Ludwig Beckert and John

Sheiermann arrived on horseback in San Isidro, then called Cagutongan, on Aug. 22, 1909,

exactly one week after they arrived in Manila. Bangued diocese, which was established as a

prelature in 1955 and became a diocese in 1982, now serves the area. Only eight of the 21

Bangued parishes listed in the Catholic Directory of the Philippines still are administered by

Divine Word priests, who serve mostly in the mountains far from towns. However, more than

300 Divine Word and diocesan priests in the northern Philippines concelebrated the Mass at the

site of the first SVD mission station in the country.

Father Pernia, in his homily, called on SVD priests serving in the region today, as heirs to the

Church their pioneering predecessors established, to live a life of missionary service in honor of

those early missioners. Be disciples who are “chaste, poor, obedient,” he urged them, noting that

it was these virtues that helped Fathers Beckert and Sheiermann persevere in the “rough and

difficult beginning” of the Philippine mission. Today the Filipino SVD contingent of about 530,
including seminarians, makes up the fourth-largest national grouping of Divine Word members.

About 160 work in foreign missions.

The Divine Word priests and brothers in the Philippines engage in ministries such as running

parishes, missions, schools, universities, formation houses and retreat centers, as well as biblical

and communication apostolates. They minister to indigenous peoples, street children, the poor

and marginalized, and the Filipino-Chinese community. Father Pernia, who is based in Rome,

also led centennial celebrations in the Manila area and in the central provinces of Bohol and

Cebu. Father Bernard Teneza, formation director of the SVD Philippine Northern Province,

noted the “good number” of Divine Word aspirants to the priesthood in the Philippines, where

about eight men are ordained SVD priests annually.

SVD and DWCL

The Divine Word College of Laoag, earlier known as Saint William's College, is

a Catholic institution of higher learning run by the Society of the Divine Word or SVD

in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. It was founded by Rev. Fr. Alphonse Mildner, SVD in 1946.

The Colloege Motto is “Deo et Patrie” (Latin) translates in the English language as For God and

Country.
Present missionary priests in DWCL:

President: Fr. Gaudencio Pugat, SVD

Campus Minister: Fr. Edwin Fernandez, SVD
Vice-president for Administration: Fr. Bernard Teneza, SVD
Director Human Resource/Research & Fr. Dameanus Abun, SVD

Quality Assurance
Fr. Denny Lucas, SVD