4th year: The studies of the baccalaureate which they have not passed.
Those who shall have studied theology already in the Roman seminaries, shall be ordained as soon as possible as sub-deacons, deacons, and presbyters, successively.
[1] Law xxxv, título xv, book i, reads as follows: “We order that, in accordance with the holy council of Trent, the missionary religious pay contributions for college-seminaries, as the other clerics, beneficed persons, prebendaries, hospitals, and confraternities do, and are bound to do, in the manner that is and shall be assigned. We ask and request the secular prelates to have it obeyed exactly and punctually, and to warn the religious that if they do not observe it, they shall be removed from the missions.” It is dated May 1, 1609. [↑]
[2] Law vii, título xxiii, book i, dated El Pardo, Nov. 8, 1594, reads as follows: “We order our royal officials of Peru to discount three per cent of the stipends given to the religious missionaries of the Order of St. Francis, which in accordance with law xxxv, título xv, of this book the seminaries are to have, in money and not in kind, and to give the remainder to the religious.” [↑]
[3] This seminary was founded in 1870 by the very reverend Fray Mariano Cuartero, the first bishop of the diocese. The building is of stone with a galvanized iron roof supported by 160 beams. There are six Paulist priests, and two lay-brothers in charge of the institution, who are aided by three native clerics—pupils in the same seminary, who teach the Latin classes under the direction of the rector. The following fees are charged: matriculation, four pesos; boarding pupils, nine pesos per month, payable quarterly; and the three per cent of the stipend of the priests of the diocese. Instruction is divided into four years of Latin, and three of philosophy. The total number of pupils enrolled without distinction of courses or studies, from 1870 to 1885 inclusive, was 5,344; the total number of graduates, 4,397. Of those enrolled under secondary instruction, 86.1 per cent graduated; under philosophy, 85.9 per cent; under dogmatic theology, 85 per cent; and under moral theology and liturgy, 82.5 per cent. See Census of Philippines, iii, pp. 598, 599. [↑]
[4] Blumentritt says of the relations between the religious orders and the Philippine clergy: “They [i.e., the orders] won for themselves in early times, great gratitude from the natives by protecting them from the government officials, which was increased by admitting them to religious orders. But this happy condition was changed in the present century, for when the orders were abolished in Spain, the Philippines offered an asylum to the crowd of European novices, whose numbers soon barred further admission to the natives. Since that time the Philippine friars have been European Spaniards, who are often the only white men in the country districts, and who, being the only representatives of the ruling race, have made use of that position, in fact, if not with right, and constituted themselves the rulers of the land. In the fear that a liberal government might deprive them of their last refuge—the Philippines—by handing the parishes over to the (native) secular clergy, the Spanish friars began to pose as the only reliable support of Spanish rule in the archipelago, and to throw the suspicion of independence upon the secular clergy. So great is the ignorance of the Spaniards of the affairs of the archipelago, that this suggestion was easily entertained, although all insurrections have been suppressed, not by the friars, but by the government. Their power was further increased by the money they circulated in Spain, and the fear of the Spanish government that they might place their wealth at the disposal of the Carlists.
“These friars have been the enemies of every administrative reform which the colonial ministers have promised or effected from 1868 until the present time, and they have consequently and naturally appealed as the enemies of all progress and improvement in their country, not only to the secular clergy, but also to all the other inhabitants of the islands.... What kind of a spirit actuated them is best shown by the fact that they accused the Jesuits, who are highly esteemed, of liberalism, and so brought suspicion and distrust upon the teachers who were educated in the Jesuit teachers’ seminary.” See Census of Philippines, iii, pp. 612, 613. [↑]
[5] Gregorio Aglipay, the founder of the new Filipino Church, is an Ilokano by birth and is about forty years old. He was educated for the priesthood in a Catholic seminary, and ordained about 1890. His rise was rapid, for he was well looked upon by Spanish ecclesiastics. In the early pair of American occupation, however, he was excommunicated for some Church irregularity, “an action ... glaringly unjust and entirely irregular,” says Stuntz. Thereupon he joined the insurgents and was made vicar-general by Aguinaldo. Shortly after the proclamation of April 4, 1899, by the Schurman commission, he took the oath of allegiance to the United States. In August, 1901, he had private conferences with several Protestant ministers regarding the religious condition of the Philippines, and declared his intention to head a movement for an independent church, asking the coöperation of the Protestants. The constitution was adopted in October, 1902, at a convention of the priests and laymen who had joined the movement, and Aglipay was elected archbishop. The movement spread rapidly. In north Ilokos but three priests with their churches remained loyal to Rome. Various estimates place the number of adherents to the new faith at 1,500,000, or 2,000,000, although they themselves claim 3,000,000. The question of their right to hold church property came up early, and Governor Taft ruled that the party which is in peaceful possession of any house of worship shall be deemed to be the rightful occupant, and the contrary must be proved in the courts before ejection can take place. More than 200 priests have joined the movement, and young native priests are being ordained with somewhat startling ease and carelessness, in the seminaries which the new Church has opened. The foremost priests and laymen have been open enemies of the United States, and some of them still advocate independence. Isabelo de los Reyes, a politician of the demagogue type, is one of the active leaders of the movement. A weekly paper is published in the interests of the new Church. Patriotism rather than religion is the reason for its rapid growth, so that its basis with many is political. The fear of the return of the friars was seized upon by the schismatics to gain new adherents. Homer C. Stuntz says: “Its easy program of religious reformations attracts thousands. It promises a better order of things, but makes no spiritual or moral demands. Priests may come into the movement, and keep their mistresses and continue their gambling. Aglipay himself has never been accused of immorality or gaming, but he sets up no standard of purity in his priesthood or among his people. The cockpit, games of cards and dice, the bino habit, and all other national vices come into the new Church without direct rebuke. This, its real weakness, gives it apparent strength. Because of this it is enabled to count its members by the million within less than two years from its birth.” Protestant influence is seen on every hand. Protestant missionaries congratulate themselves that the Catholic front of the islands is broken by this movement. The office of bishop is elective, Aglipay himself being included by this rule. Stuntz’s conclusions are as follows: “The Independent Filipino Catholic Church has come to stay. Just how strong a hold it will be able to keep over the multitudes which have flocked to its standard of revolt against the pope cannot be foretold. But it may be reckoned with as a permanent factor in the religious future of the Philippines.” See LeRoy’s Philippine Life, pp. 163–171; Homer C. Stuntz’s The Philippines and the Far East (Cincinnati and New York, 1905), pp. 488–496; and Report of Philippine Commission, 1904, i, pp. 19, 20. [↑]