"Philippinization" of Catholicism

The “Philippinization” of Catholicism On 1521, a Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan had no chances to colonize the land completely when he arrived in the Islands of the Philippines because he was killed by the inhabitants of Cebu under Lapu-Lapu’s leadership. During his stay in the Philippines, before he was killed, Magellan and his group planted the Cross and started Christianization to what they call the “indios”. When Miguel Lopez de Legaspi came during 1565, 44 years after Magellan’s arrival, the process of colonization in the Philippines began. (Cacayan, 1991) The Spaniards used the “divide-and-rule” strategy to conquer the natives in the Philippines. The Spanish soldiers were the ones who conquered but the Spanish missionaries also played an important role that was part of the colonization. They were the ones who introduced Christianity to the islands which then made colonization and Christianization interlace. (Cacayan, 1991) “The collaboration of the cross and the sword in the colonization of the Philippines would later become a problem in the minds of the Filipino Christians because it shows very clearly the ideological function the church played in the Spanish conquest of the Philippines.” (Cacayan, 1991) As proclaimed by the Spanish colonizers, Christianity was Spain’s most important gift and legacy to the Philippines which left a fixed mark on the inhabitants since their aim was to build a community in which the teachings and the spirit of the church would be applied in the daily lives of the inhabitants. At present, Roman Catholicism is seen as the dominant religion in the Philippines. It must be noticed that Arab missionaries had already introduced Islam in the southern part of the archipelago before Roman Catholicism came but still remains a minority religion. (Elesterio, 1989) The Filipinos donated some aspects to the Spanish Catholicism which made the Philippines unique from the world-wide religion by introducing a new taste with ceremonial

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