Monastic Supremacy

Service to God and to King• The Patronato Real• Struggle for control and jurisdiction over the

Spanish Church (and its colonial branches) with popes

• The church's organization, personnel, and role in society were all defined early in the colonial era.

The Two Sovereigns• Temporal & Spiritual Sovereignity• Nationalism & Religiosity• Justification for colonization• The role of the Church and its clergy

Clerical Ascendency• Clergy >>> King’s officials• Great demand for priests• Descent of decadence in the religiousin Mother Spain

Friar Acquisition of LandFriars to Encomenderos

Means of acquisition1. Royal Bequest2. Donations and Inheritances3. Buying of land4. Foreclosure of Mortgages 5. Land-grabbing

Royal Bequest Friars suggested that the King grant them

some estates in the native villages so that the missionaries could become self supporting.

Royal Lang Grants This proposal ran counter to the royal order

that the clergy should not own lands in the Indian villages.

Friars became encomenderos

Donations and InheritancesDeathbed bequests by pious FilipinosDonations to friars in gratitude for their

ministrations Down payment for a place in heavenPriests were prohibited from inheriting

property from those they habitually confessed by order of the King

Buying of LandFriars bought land from the natives using the

money obtained from church fees, trade, and from profits gained from the produce of lands.

With their prestige and power, they pressured natives to sell them their lands at very low prices.

Foreclosure of MortgagesNatives lacked capital for extensive

cultivation Partnerships were formed between the

farmers and friars wherein the friars provided capital while the farmers worked on the fields.

Friars began to demand that their advances be regarded as loans payable at a fixed rate of interest.

Farmer debt ran into debt leading to foreclosure of lands.

“All lands within one thousand meters of the principal market place of every town are considered communal property of the town residents”

- Statute that was ignored

Land-grabbingUsurpationAdditional hectares of land outside original

boundaries of friar property were gobbled up each time a new survey was conduction.

Priests claimed lands and had them titled. Original native settlers were declared

squatters.“titulos reales”

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MISSION RIVALRIES

How it started…

Friar Andres de Urdaneta – Augustinian friar who accompanied Legazpi on his memorable trip that resulted to the conquest of the Philippine Islands by Spain

- Organized the work spreading the doctrine of Christianity

Friar Domingo de Salazar – Dominican, ambitious and apparently somewhat arrogant first bishop of Manila

ArrivalAugustinians – 1565Franciscan - 1578 Jesuits - 1581Dominicans – 1587Recollects (Discalced

Augustinians) -

1606

Extent of Power Augustinians - Visayas, Pampanga, part of

Pangasinan, and the Ilocos coast

Dominicans - Pangasinan and the valley of the Cagayan River in Northern Luzon

Franciscans - Camarines and Southern Luzon, including the region of Laguna de Bay.

Recollects – Mindanao, Palawan, Mindoro

All of these orders had their principal convents and monasteries in Manila

Influence and Contributions

Augustinians – Univ. of San Agustin (Iloilo); San Agustin Church in Intramuros (oldest)

Franciscans – San Lazaro Hospital, Saint Francis

Jesuits - Ateneo, Xavier

Dominicans – UST, Letran

Recollects – University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (1941) in Bacolod City; Univ. of San Jose – Recoletos (1947) in Cebu City; San Sebastian College – Recoletos (1966) in Cavite City; Colegio de Santo Tomas-Recoletos in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental; Colegio San Nicolas de Tolentino - Recoletos in Talisay City, Negros Occidental; and San Pedro Academy in Caidiocan, Valencia, Negros Oriental.

Property Acquisitions

...fundamental cause for the corruption of friars.

How it started?

• Contention of the religious• Suggested that it would be best if the king

grant them some estates in the native villages• King revoke his previous decree• Bishop Domingo Salazar – March 21, 1591• Exemption from the pope from their monastic

vows• Opportunity to amass large tracts of lands

How they do it?

• Royal bequest• Bought land from the states• Donations and inheritances from pious

Filipinos (Deathbed bequests)• Bought land from the natives – church fees,

trade, from the profits of land produce• Bought lands at very low price

How they do it?

• Land acquired through foreclosure of mortgages

• Laws:– Setting a limit to the amount that could be lent to

the natives– Reservation of all land within one thousand

meters of the principal market place of every town as communal property

How they do it?

• Land-grabbing– Corrupt surveyors– Claimed pieces of lands drew maps had them

titled set themselves as owners– Natives declared as squatters– they lack titulos reales

From Friars to Encomenderos

Our Friar who art our Landlord

Friars (Landlord) Inquilinos (Lessees/Middleman) Kasamas (Subtenants) Indios, slaves

Friar Abuses

• Taxes• Tributes• Exhorbitant rents• Arbitrary increases on the previous• Forced labor• Personal services• Petty cruelties

Jesuit ranches in 1745

• In Lian and Nagsubu, Batangas• Friars charged locals for personal use of wood,

rattan, and bamboo from their own land

Bulacan

• Friars claimed land as their own• The following were prohibited:– Fishing in the rivers– Cutting firewood– Gathering of fruits from the forrest– Carabao gazing

Cavite, Manila, and Bulacan

• Friars claimed land through which rivers passed– Permission was needed to allow for water

irrigation

Bitter protest on friar landlords

• Friars increase taxes on productive farms– Surtax on planted trees

• Land owners lowered prices to lower the taxes

Side-lines and other abuses

• Fees for all sorts of rites – Including baptism and burial– Native paid even if to lose their last possessions

• Selling of rosaries, scapulars and other objects• Requirement of offering of food and services for the

covenant table• Corporal punishment– Girls were compelled to pound rice in convents

• Many of them were raped

• Exempted from taxes

Economic power & commercial activities

Friar Supremacy

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• Friar control spans from birth until death

– Taxation– Health– Public works– Censor– Elections– Police and Army– Schools

Almacen de la Fe• Literally means, “Faith Warehouse”• Friars gained Economic Power though:– Conversion to Christianity– Investments– Internal trade within the population– Participation in government activities– Spiritual control

Friars Dominate

• Indispensable to Spain• Arrogance of Friars• Friction between Governor Generals and the

Friars

Friar Conflicts

Governors complain to Spanish Monarchs • Gov. Dasmarinas (1952)– Indians recognize friars as kings – Friars use Indians as slaves– Friars have the say with regards to everything– Approval of the friars are needed

• Gov. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (1636)– Objected to the increase of religious in the Philippines – Friars monopolized business

Conflict with Governors

Casualties• Gov. Diego de Salcedo (1669)– Imprisoned and died

• Gov. Juan de Vargas – Stood for 4 months in Manila wearing sackcloth

and rope– Archbishop Pardo

• Gov. Fernando Manuel– Ordered clergy to return owed money from

government– Stabbed to death

Conflict over Land Titles

Examination of land title ordered by the King– Forgery– Ecclesiastical immunity– Oidores• Juan Sierra• Juan Ozaeta y Oro

Conflict with the Pope

• Refusal to submit to authority of bishops• Claimed to be under exclusive control of own

orders

Conflict with Secular Clergy

• Religious orders do not include Filipinos• Seculars became assistants to regular friars – No territory/ parish

Monastic Supremacy TODAY

• Since the Philippines is a majorly Catholic country, Church traditions of monastic habits are still in effect in our country. Most politicians ask to be endorsed by the Church officials, the Church demands in political decisions, Church leaders hold positions in the government cabinet or advise the presidents, and leaders of our country ask guidance from priests, bishops, and the like.

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asked guidance from the Pope about her decision on abolishing the death penalty in the Philippines.

President Benigno Aquino III appoints Bro. Armin Luistro FSC to be the DepEd secretary

Church demands the teaching of sex education, not to be done in current events.

Those running for office ask endorsements from religious leaders, not only in the Catholic realm.