Monastic

Supremacy
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Monastic Supremacy

Is the service to God

and to King. The
church's organization,
personnel, and role in
society were all
defined early in the
colonial era.
Monastic Supremacy

The 2 Sovereigns

 Temporal and Spiritual

Sovereignty Nationalism and
Religiosity
 Justification for colonization
 The role of the church and its
clergy
Marcelo H. Del Pilar's

La Soberenia en
Filipinas was published
in Barcelona, spain in
1889 and reprinted in
Manila in 1898.
 Marcelo H. Del
Pilar's
 Better known by his pen
name Plaridel

 He became a critic of the

monastic rule in the country

 In the 1880s, he expanded his

anti- friar movement from
Malolos to Manila.

 Founded the short-lived

Diariong Tagalog (Tagalog
Newspaper) in 1882.
 His most important work was the Soberania
Monacal en Filipinas or the Monastic
Supremacy in the Philippines. This pamphlet
denounced the friars for their wrong teaching
which had resulted in a life of poverty and
misery of the Filipinos. To hide his real identity
form the Spaniards, he wrote under the pen
name of Plaridel.
 Friars Acquisition of Lands

Donation and Foreclosure of

Inheritance mortgages

One Two Three Four Five

Royal Bequest
(Royal grant for Buying of Land Land-grabbing
missionaries)
 Its Political Aspect
1 The friars control the status quo of the country.

The moderating power of the parish priest may

2 be useful to society to balance and harmonize
the interests of the people and the institutions.

To frighten the government with the

3 rebelliousness of the country, and frighten the
country with the despotism of the government.

The lack of union between the people and the

4 government.

5 Diversity of languages
 Its Political Aspect
The privilege to vote is in the hands of the
6 curate.

In performance of their duties, the municipal

7 officials depend on the parish priest.

Public education is one of the common

8 aspirations of both the government and the
Filipinos.

9 The Superior Decree of 12 September 1883

The personal security of the citizens is equally

10 endangered by monastic power.
 Its Political Aspect
The danger to national integrity is the friar's
11 hobby of imposing their preponderance in the
Philippines.

The municipal official depends on the parish

12 priest.

The signature of the parish priest is necessary

13 to the census of the residents in a municipality.

The basis of monastic wealth is the lack of

14 union between the people and the government.

The resentment of the people and the

15 despotism of the government.
 Its Economic Aspect
Government Monastery

• Lacks resources to • Build grand convents

undertake public works. and spacious palace in
• Establishes primary curates.
schools in each town. • Friar curates has stable
• Find thousand obstacles place.
from tax paying public • The public pay because
• Worries about meeting of return for heavenly
financial needs. promises
• Refrains from creating •Overflowing with money.
new sources of revenue. • Friars invent new forms
of devotion.
Its Economic Aspect
Filipinos pay the friars
another tribute for
miraculous objects.

Belts, rosaries,
scapulars, cords and
other objects.
Economic Abuses of Friars

Taxes
Exorbitant
Rent Forced
Labor Personal
Services
Petty
Cruelties
 Church Vs. State

Knowledge of Friars outweighed

that of government officials.

Friars had a more secure term in

the church; this in turn made the
government dependent on them.
THANKYOU