WHERE DID THE

FIRST CATHOLIC
MASS TAKE
PLACE IN THE
PHILIPPINES?
Much of our history is written because there are
accounts of eye witnesses or participants of specific
events. And this is where the problem comes in:
which account should we believe?

Thus, controversies on and conflicting views of

events in Philippines history exist.

This situation, however, does not detract from any

form of historical study, rather it contributes to the
scholarship or study of historical sources by
analyzing how perspectives are made on historical
events.
One Past but many History”

A. CITE OF THE FIRST MASS

 The first Catholic Mass in
the Philippines  was held on March 31,
1521, Easter Sunday. It was said by
Father Pedro de Valderrama along the
shores of Limasawa at the tip
First Mass in of Southern Leyte.
the Philippines 
Limasawa is popularly known as the
birthplace of the Church in the
Philippines.
 In the afternoon of the same day, Magellan
instructed his comrades to plant a large
wooden cross on the top of the hill
overlooking the sea.
Planting of
the cross 
Magellan then took ownership of the islands
where he had landed in the name of King
Charles V which he had named earlier on
March 16 Archipelago of Saint
Lazarus because it was the day of the saint
when the Armada reached the archipelago.
The island's sovereign ruler was Rajah Siaiu. When Magellan and
comrades set foot on the grounds of Limasawa, he befriended the
Rajah together with his brother Rajah Kulambu of Butuan.

In those days, it was customary among the indigenous—and in

most of southeast Asia—to seal friendship with a blood compact.

On instigation of Magellan who had heard the Malayan term for

it, casi casi, the new friends performed the ritual.

This was the first recorded blood compact

between Filipinos and Spaniards. Gifts were exchanged by the
two parties when the celebration had ended.
 HISTORICAL 
CONTROVERSIES 
LIMAWASA
OR
BUTUAN?
 Comparison of the Two Islands

The name of Route from The latitude

the place Homonhon position

The
The route to
Geographical
Cebu
features
Some Filipino historians have long contested the idea
that Limasawa was the site of the first Catholic mass in the country.
 

Historian Sonia Zaide identified Masao (also Mazaua) in Butuan as

the location of the first Christian mass. The basis of Zaide's claim is
the diary of Antonio Pigafetta, chronicler of Magellan's voyage.
In 1995 then Congresswoman Ching
Plaza of Agusan del Norte-Butuan City
filed a bill in Congress contesting
the Limasawa hypothesis and asserting
the "site of the first mass" was Butuan.

The Philippine Congress referred the

matter to the National Historical Institute
for it to study the issue and recommend a
historical finding.
 The most complete and reliable account of the
Magellan expedition into Philippine shores in
1521 is that of Antonio Pigafetta which is
deemed as the only credible primary source of
reports on the celebration of the first Christian
Mass on Philippine soil.

Findings
James Robertson's English translation of the
original Italian manuscript of Pigaffeta's
account is most reliable for being ''faithful'' to
the original text as duly certified by the
University of the Philippines' Department of
European Language.
 Pigafetta's Mazaua, the site of the first
Christian Mass held on Philippine soil, is an
island lying off the southwestern tip of Leyte
while Masao in Butuan is not an island but a
barangay of Butuan City located in a delta of
the Agusan River along the coast of Northern
Mindanao.

Findings
The position of Mazaua, as plotted by
Pigafetta, matched that of Limasawa.
  The measurement of distances between Homonhon and Limasawa
between Limasawa and Cebu, as computed by the pro-Limasawa
group, matches or approximates the delineations made by
Findings Pigafetta of the distances between Homonhon and Mazaua and
between Mazaua and Cebu.
 Findings
Magellan's fleet took a route
from Homonhon to Mazaua
and from Mazaua to Cebu that
did not at any time touch
Butuan or any other part of
Mindanao. and
The docking facilities at
Limasawa did not pose any
problem for Magellan's fleet
which anchored near or at
some safe distance from the
island of the eastern shore