Owen R.

Largo 4/25/2022
BIT -CT 3B DAY LWR-The Religious Front:SECULARIZATION

1. Differentiate: “Filipino,” “regular priests,” and “secularization issue.”

ANS:
Two kinds of priests served the Catholic Church in the Philippines. These were the
regulars and the seculars. Regular priests belonged to religious orders. Their main task was to
spread Christianity. Examples were the Franciscans, Recollects, Spanish church in Cavite circa
1899Dominicans, and Augustinians. Secular priests did not belong to any religious order. They
were trained specifically to run the parishes and were under the supervision of the bishops.
Conflict began when the bishops insisted on visiting the parishes that were being run by regular
priests. It was their duty, they argued, to check on the administration of these parishes. But the
regular priests refused these visits, saying that they were not under the bishop’s jurisdiction.
They threatened to abandon their parishes if the bishops persisted.

2. Discuss the stand of the regular priests and the secular priests in relation to the administration
of Philippine provinces.
ANS:
In 1774, Archbishop Basilio Santa Justa decided to uphold the diocese’s authority over
the
parishes and accepted the resignations of the regular priests. He assigned secular priests to
take their place. Since there were not enough seculars to fill all the vacancies the archbishop
hastened the ordination of Filipino seculars. A royal decree was also issued on November 9,
1774, which provided for the secularization of all parishes or the transfer of parochial
administration from the regular friars to the secular priests.

The regulars resented the move because they considered the Filipinos unfit for the
priesthood. Among other reasons they cited the Filipinos’ brown skin, lack of education, and
inadequate experience. The controversy became more intense when the Jesuits returned to the
Philippines. They had been exiled from the country because of certain policies of the order that
the Spanish authorities did not like. The issue soon took on a racial slant. The Spaniards were
clearly favoring their own regular priest over Filipino priests. Monsignor Pedro Pelaez,
ecclesiastical governor of the Church, sided with the Filipinos. Unfortunately, he died in an
earthquake that destroyed the Manila Cathedral in 1863. After his death, other priests took his
place in fighting for the secularization movement. Among them were Fathers Mariano Gomez,
Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora.

3. If the word "propaganda" means to give out information, analyze why the secularization issue
became a crucial point in the Propaganda Period of Philippine history.
ANS:
In February 17, 1872, Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jocinto Zamora
(Gomburza), all Filipino priest, was executed by the Spanish colonizers on charges of subversion.
The charges against Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora was their alleged complicity in the
uprising of workers at the Cavite Naval Yard. The death of Gomburza awakened strong feelings
of anger and resentment among the Filipinos. They questioned Spanish authorities and
demanded reforms. The martyrdom of the three priests apparently helped to inspire the
organization of the Propaganda Movement, which aimed to seek reforms and inform Spain of
Owen R. Largo 4/25/2022
BIT -CT 3B DAY LWR-The Religious Front:SECULARIZATION

the abuses of its colonial government. The illustrados led the Filipinos’ quest for reforms.
Because of their education and newly acquired wealth, they felt more confident about voicing
out popular grievances. However, since the illustrados themselves were a result of the changes
that the Spanish government had been slowly implementing, the group could not really push
very hard for the reforms it wanted. The illustrados did not succeeded in easing the sufferings of
the Filipinos; but from this group arose another faction called the intelligentsia. The
intelligentsia also wanted reforms; but they were more systematic and used a peaceful means
called the Propaganda Movement.