5. “The Filipino’s historical encounter
with Christ”
It is an assertion that the Filipino’s
encounter with Christ and his response to
this living experience have all passed
through a process in history.
The main actor- Spanish friar-missionaries
who brought Christianity to the Filipinos.
6. The Filipino Encounter with
Christian God
The first attempt to colonize and evangelize the
Philippines happened with the Portuguese
explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, in 1521.
In 1565 and through the endeavors of the Spanish
Adelantado, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi that
Christianization and colonization in the islands
formally began.
7. The first missionaries who launched a modest
but daring attempt to convert the natives
were the Augustinians who came with the
Legazpi expedition.
Then arrival of the Franciscans in 1578.
The Jesuits followed suit in 1581.
The Dominicans and Augustinian Recollects
arrived in 1587 and 1606 respectively.
8. The missionaries played a major role in the
Filipino’s “encounter” with Christianity and the
Christian God. This in a way became the ground of
Filipino Spirituality.
However, it was not a one-sided process in which
the Spanish missionaries shaped the Filipino
spirituality.
At the end of the process, the resultant spirituality
is a syncretic blend of Hispanic imposition and the
natives’ Filipinization of Christianity.
9. According to John Leddy Phelan asserts that
Spanish missionaries viewed themselves as
soldiers of Christ waging with spiritual
weapons a war to overthrow the devil’s
tyranny over pagan peoples and they
envisaged their work as a “spiritual conquest”
of the minds and hearts of the natives, a
supplement to, and the ultimate justification
for, the military conquest.
10. Methods of Evangelization
The methods used by the missionaries in the
propagation of the faith can be reduced into the
following:
1. Catechism
2. The introduction of liturgical practices, fiestas,
etc.
3. Preserving the native’s political structure
11. The barangay set-up was basically retained.
The role of municipal mayors
(gobernadorcillo), capitanes de barrio, cabeza
de barangay were given to the elite class
(principalia).
The principales eventually became the
intermediaries between the new rulers, the
Spaniards and the local communities. They
consequently became the intermediaries
(fiscales) between the Church and the people.
12. The missionaries also introduced many of the
religious and liturgical practices that they
themselves had in Spain but not without
innovations to fit the native culture.
Fast and abstinence during Lent and the Holy
Week, sanctorum (religious contribution
during confessions), feast days of obligation,
devotion to the saints, and the misa de
aguinaldo(Christmas dawn masses).
13. Another devotion that was brought from Spain
and took root in the religiosity of the natives
was the reading of the Passion of Our Lord
Jesus Christ. At the beginning of its practice,
the Pasiones, as the narrations of the Passion,
Death, and Resurrection of the Lord were
called, were literal translation from Spanish.
14. Missionaries came as innovators and saw
Christianity as a very effective means of
incorporating the natives into Spanish
culture. And besides, the missionaries were
themselves product of the Council of Trent
and self-proclaimed agents of the Catholic
Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries
15. Challenge and Conclusion
It is a true that our spirituality is mix and
rooted in the Spanish tradition because they
are the one who introduced to us the Christian
rituals and practices. On the other hand, our
native beliefs and mentality of divine is still
anchor in that native spirituality and custom.
16. We might look western in the way we shows our
religious practices but inside we still hold on to these
native beliefs about Spirit’s and God
The challenges to our Filipino Catholics is to
reconcile these Filipino practices, in the way we
understand our Christian faith.
This is evidenced by the reality of Filipino spirituality
today. It is like praying to Jesus and Mama Mary with
bended knees inside the steaming Baclaran or Quiapo
Church with a recently purchased anting-anting in
one hand and a rosary in the other, while wearing a
western-designed pair of jeans and shirt to top it all.
17.
18. General Background
A response to the changing
situation of the Philippines.
The Catholic Bishop Conference
of the Philippines called a
Council
( Piscos, Church Sacrament and Liturgy).
19. It was attended by priest,
bishop, superiors of religious
order both men and women,
seminary rectors and formators,
lay leaders and pastoral workers.
It started January 20, 1991 and
ended February 17, 1991.
20. The year 1991-was a time of
calming the storm(Corazon C.
Aquino was about to finish her
term-1986)
Many people hoped to find a
better situation, and yet miseries
and abundance of discrimination
proliferate,
(Piscos, Church and Sacrament)
21. Why the Church? Why called a
council and what the Church should
do?
The growing consciousness on
the connection between the church
is at its peak as influence by the
role of the church during the
critical time of 1986 Revolution.
22. The Church concern in religion
and politics. The capital P and the
small p’s.
The art of influencing people
and the type of politics that
considered dirty politics, using all
unjust means to win the votes of
people, especially the poor.
23. The council was called, The
Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines.
The whole council was guided by
the theme taken from Ephesians
1:10 “ UNITE ALL THINGS UNDER
CHRIST”
Does our profession of Jesus
Christ make any different?
24. Where we are now and where
are we going?
Renewal of Church and
ultimately to unite all God’s whole
creation.
PCP II documents was produced
taking this into consideration.
25. The are five parts of the
document with the following titles:
Part I: Our World- The Philippines
Light and Shadows
Part II: Envisioning a Church
Renewed
Part III: A Renewed Integral
Evangelization
26. Part IV. The Community of Disciple
Workers of Renewal
Part V. Agenda towards Renewal(
Resolutions).
27. The Church looks backs to the past.
The Shadows and Lights of the
Christian faith.
Evangelization
Socio-Cultural Context
Economic and Political Context
Religious context
28. …retelling the story of Jesus.
Jesus’ way was proclaiming the
message of the Kingdom of God-a
relationship based on mutual
recognition of each other’s
importance
“LEAST, LAST and LOST”
29. We have to follow the pattern of
Jesus’ way by opting for “ the poor
and sinners.
The Church should be seen as
community of disciples.
PCPII took a particular model,
and that is communion of
communities of disciple in which
there is unity amidst the diversity
of charism.
30. DISCIPLESHIP IN COMMUNITY –
The Church
Our first apostolate
is our community
(PCPII Manila, 1992. p.87)
31. The Church is a Communion
In community a Christian grows
in faith.
Acts 2 “They were “of one heart
and mind” and shared even the
things they owned so that no one
among them was in want. (PCPII Manila,
1992. p.89-90)
32. Unity in Diversity
St. Paul expressed the unity of
Christian, he compared the group of
believers to human body and called it the
body of Christ.
Many different part but each part has
to role to play in the one body.
Vatican II has highlighted the same
characteristics of the Church. It
describes the universal church as people
made one with the unity of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
(PCPII Manila, 1992. p.91-94)
33. Equality in Dignity
In the Unity of the Church there is
equality in Christian dignity in all the
members.
Lumen Gentium
Pope John Paul II says and draws a
conclusion from the equality in dignity
of all Christians: “ each member of the
lay faithful, together with ordained
ministers and men and women
religious, shares a responsibility for the
Church’s mission”
34. Participation
In the Philippines, participation
largely means enabling the laity
to participate more fully in the
life of the Church.
Vatican II = co-responsibility,
shared responsibility in the
mission of the entire Church.
35. A community in a mission
The community exist not only for
itself and for its members but for
the whole world.it send for a
mission to proclaim the good
news of Christ.
36. Our Missionary Vocation
The Philippines has a special
missionary vocation to proclaim
the Good News, to carry the Light
of Christ to the nations.
A growing awareness of the
missionary potential of Filipino
migrant workers abroad has also
dawned upon us.
37. Inter-Religious Dialogue
In the Philippines Catholic is
not the only existing religion.
God makes himself present in
many ways.
A Priestly, Prophetic and
Kingly People.
38. The Church of the Poor
In the Philippines today, God
calls us most urgently to serve the
poor and the needy.
Poverty in the sense of
destitution is not God’s will.
( PCP II Manila, 1992. p122-136)
39.
40. Church of the poor embraces
and practices the evangelical spirit
of poverty which combines
detachment from possessions with
a profound trust in God as the sole
source of salvation.
“Live simply so that others may
live”
42. The guiding principle for
this segment is all are
called to mission and
communion.
This part also looks on the
importance of religious
education as a core
subject.
43. The challenge of our Filipino
church is to have a thorough
integral evangelization so that the
concept will be well-understood.
The Church makes her own
aspiration the aspiration of the
society for development of Justice,
reconciliation and peace.
44. The Filipino Church is the
moral prophetic voice of the
people. She speaks in the
name of JUSTICE, TRUTH,
HUMAN RIGHTS, DIGNITY and
TOTAL WELL-BEING.
( PCPII Manila, 1992. p.122-144)
45. Expression in Reality and of
Renewal
Inculturation
BEC = Basic Ecclesial
Community
Kristianong
Pamayanan/Sambayanan
46. If she ceases to do so, then its
search for authentic Church will be
a mere artistic cliché, a poor
slogan of being a “Church of the
Poor”.
Inculturation = Means the process
by which there comes about on-
going integration of the Christian
experience of the local church into
the culture of the people.
