BLESSEDPEDROCALUNGSODANDTHEMISSION

ByMsgr.EstebanBinghay 1. TheCatholicMissioninthe16thCentury

WhatwerethecharacteristicsoftheCatholicMissionsinthePhilippinesofthe16th Century? Thefollowinginformationmaybeimportantifonlytoprovidethecontextoftheissuesand points in order to understand and deduce learnings from the Catholic Missions in the Philippinesofthe16thcentury. A. TheTimeLine: 1. April7,1521ArrivalofFerdinandMagellaninCebu.WithhimwereFrayPedro Valderamaandothermissionarycompanions. 2. April14,1521BaptismsofRajahHumabonandQueenJuanaincluding800members oftheirtribe.Asatoken,thestatueoftheSto.NinowasgivenasagifttoQueenJuana.A warbetweenMagellanandLapulapuerupted.Magellanwaskilledandtheircrosswas burned.Theinitialmissionwasshortlived. 3. April8,1865Thesecondwaveofmissionaryactivitiesbeganwiththearrivalof MiguelLopezdeLegaspiandfiveAugustinianpriestsledbyFrayAndresUrdaneta. 4. 1571FormalstartofthePreachingoftheGoodNews,beginninginCebu,whichwas itscenter,thentoManila,Panay,Masbate,Ticao,Burias,Albayandotherpartsofthe Archipelago. 5. April28,1595ManilawasseparatedfromthechurchofMexicoandwasmadean Archdiocese.FromManila,theMissionspreadtotherestofLuzon. 6. August14,1595PopeClementVIIImadeCebuChurchasuffraganDioceseofManila whichincludedthewholeofVisayasandMindanao.ItalsoincludedtheLadronesIslands (MarianaIslands),nowcalledGuam. B. TheUnderstandingofMissioninthe16thCentury (TakenfromthetalkofthelateBishopVicenteManuel,SVD,duringthePastoralGeneral AssemblyintheArchdioceseofCebu,2005,whichwasitsYearoftheMission): 1. Origin/Source/RootofMission He said, mission in the past was primarily seen as mission of the Church which was understood as a mandate given to the Church by Christ, to send missionaries to mission lands. These missionaries almost exclusively foreignborn, were sent Ad Extra. From the
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way mission was conducted, it was as if the agent of mission was the Church and the missionaries. 2. Range/Scope/ExtentofMission Inthepast,missionwasunderstoodastheextensionofthevisiblechurchwhereitwasnot yetpresent.Itwashowthemissioncommandwasinterpreted.Makingdisciples,baptizing andteachingwereseenaschurchorientedactivites. 3. Purpose/MotiveforMission From the Fourth Lateran Council came the expression outside the church, there is no salvation(extraecclesiam,nullasalus).Thiswastheassumptionthatmotivatedthegreat missionariesofthepasttogotomissionislands.Inthepast,themotiveforthemissionwas thesalvationofnonchristianswhowouldriskdamnationiftheywerenotbroughtintothe foldofthechurch.Andthistaskwasentrustedtoaspecialgroupinthechurchknownas missionaries. C. TheMissionaryMethodsofthe16thCentury 1. Processions Religiousprocessionswereoneofthemosteffectivemissionarymethodsemployedbythe earlyMissionaries(i.e.16thcentury).Eventhestreetplanningofthetownswassuchthatit complemented the religious processions. For example, along the streets where the processions would pass, were the residences of the town folks. As a result, whether the people participated or not in the procession, they could not avoid nor escape hearing the songs and prayers as the procession passed by. In effect this facilitated catechesis. Moreover, they used dramas, religious paintings and other audiovisual effects in order to facilitateunderstandingofthemissionmessageorcatechizing. 2. Homilies Preaching/proclamationwasthemostcommonformofmissionarymethodssincethetime of Jesus. What is most important about this, is the effort of learning the local dialects or languages of the natives. Fr. John Schumacher, S.J., the Jesuit Philippine church historian mentionedthattheearlymissionarieslearnedthelocaldialects.Theimplicationofthisare most laudable. Through this, the missionaries were able to enter into the world views of their audience, thus, facilitating their integration among the natives. Secondly, their immediateobjectivewastounderstandandbeunderstoodbytheiraudience. 3. Novenas Fr. Ildebrando Leyson mentioned the Litanies and Novenas which were printed in the dialect. These were also related to the missionaries efforts at maximizing their communicationswiththeiraudienceandwideningtheirreach.
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4. Songs IntheMarianaMissions,whenMatapang,thefatherofthenewlybornchild,wasstillinhis house,bothFrayDiegoandPedroCalungsodwereteachingsongstothechildren.Itwasa caseofmaximizingtheirtimeinmissionarywork. II.TheMissionofFrayDiegoLuisdeSanVitoresandPedroCalungsod FrayDiegoLuisdeSanVitoreswastheheadoftheMissiontotheLadronesIslands. Infact,itbecamehisobsessiontomissionarizetheislandsuponseeingtheseatadistance on his way to the Philippines. Through his efforts, finance and personnel were provided albeit difficult to secure. It was, immediately before the mission sailed to the Mariana Islands,didthetwomeeteitherinCebuorCavite.Actually,PedroCalungsodwasayoung laycatechistwhowaswelltrainedbytheJesuits.ItwasaconfrereofFryDiegoLuisdeSan VitoreswhorecommendedhimtotheMarianaMissions.Hemusthavebeenaproductof theboardingschoolsortheseminariesfortheindiosformissionassistants,intheVisayas, either in Leyte, Samar, Cebu and Negros. Both were trained and afire for the Mariana MissionswhichwaspartofCebu,aSuffraganDioceseofManilaatthattime. Both arrived in Guam, on June 16, 1668, in the company of five Jesuit priests, one Jesuitstudentandfortyonenonspaniards,whoweremostlyFilipinos.Thirtyoneofthem wereeithercatechists,soldiersorservants.PedroCalungsodandFrayDiegoweretogether missionizingtheislands.PedroCalungsodpreparedthepeopleforthecatechesiswhichwas tobegivenbyFr.Diego.Hedidthisbygatheringthechildren,menandwomenwhowanted tolearnaboutthefaith.HealsotookcareoftheneedsofFr.Diego,preparingthingsfor him and serving him at the altar and helping him in teaching catechism composed in ChamorrowlanguagebyFrayDiego.SinceFrayDiegosvisionwasimpairedgreatly,Pedro assistedhimpersonallybyguidinghimonhiswayaroundtovisitfamilies.Guidelineswere alsodrawnupbecauseofcertainissueslike,thenobleswantedtobebaptizedandattended tofirstbythemissionaries;baptismsreservedonlyforthenobles;superstitiousbeliefsand practicessuchaskeepingskullsandbonesoftheirancestorsandimagesmadeofwoodand carved on trees which they worshipped in their houses out of superstition were either buriedorburned.Thehorrorofsininstilledinthemwassuchthatpeopleclamoredforthe sacrament of confession and easily accepted rigorous penance. On the part of the lay missionaries,thewitnessingvalueoftheirfaithwasstronglydemandedbyFrayDiegowho was observing these himself. As a signal for the people to gather, the missionaries upon entering a village would start singing the Act of Contrition and the explanation of the ChristiandoctrineinChamorrow.Otheraddedattractionweresomegiveawaysorgiftsfor goodstudentsincatechesis.

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ThecatechismclassesweredonebychantingthetruthsandtheChristianfaith.The layassistantswerewellinstructedtogivebaptismincaseofnecessity.Theyalsoreplicated theboardingschoolsforboysintheMarianasin1669andnameditColegiodeSanJuande Letran, where they trained selected Chamorrow boys and companion catechists for the JesuitsintheMarianas.Inspiteoftheirheavyworkinthemissions,theyneverneglected theirprayersandsacredliturgies. Doing missions in the Marianas also meant establishing peace between quarelling villages.Throughthegoodnessofthemissionaries,eventhehardenedsoulgotconverted andbecametheirfriends.Inotherwords,Christiandoctrinesnecessarilybringmorality. III.PedroCalungsodsRelevanceorSignificanceToday Hismartyrdomforthefaithhepreachedshouldserveasamodelinlivingourfaith either by doing or by dying. Pedro Calungsods significance for us today then, lies in his being a lay and youthful missionary. Moreover, he could not have been the virtuous catechist nor the good soldier of Christ were he not formed adequately for this in the familyandtheschoolofformation.Inotherwords,hehasbecomeamodeloftheyounglay missionary who because of his commitment to the mission gladly accepted martyrdom. However, his life serve as a reminder and encouragement that the young lay missionary neednotbeamartyr,whichisinvitational,i.e.,notallarecalledtophysicallylaydownhis lifeforthesakeoftheGospelbutcouldalso showthisbystudyingitmoreandpracticing thisintheirdialylivesthroughserviceandcompassiontothepoorbyinvolvingthemselves inthepastorlworkoftheirparish,oraslaymissionariesforforeignmissionsandencourage vocationstothepriestlyandreligiouslife. Ultimately, in retrospect, the union of Pedro Calungsod with Gods will seemed to have been provided by Him. And this, according to Blessed John Paul II in his encyclical RedemptorisMissio,isthespiritualityofthemissionarythatofasaint.

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