Philippine E-Journals

The Christianization of the Filipino: Eighteenth Century (1700-1750) Conditions of the Ministry of Baptism

Nestor Cachuela Impelido

Discipline: History

 

Abstract:

This paper presents an aspect of the history of the Philippines related to its religious history, on how the Filipino became Christian through the ritual of baptism. This study deals with the situation of and the demands on the ordinary minister of the sacrament of baptism; the material elements used for the sacrament; and some considerations related with the ministry of the sacrament on the different recipients and their particular circumstances. The sources for the study are religious writings of three of the first religious orders who worked in the Philippines: Augustinian, Dominican and Franciscan, as well as other documents related to the topic. The majority of the materials utilized are archival materials, mostly in Spanish. The scope of the paper is limited to the first half of the eighteenth century, from 1700 to ca. 1750. This is the time span when the sources utilized for the study were written and used. It deals with the situation of the Christian religion in the area where the Filipino spoke Tagalog and where the ministers at work tried in fact to learn Tagalog. It is hoped that the reader would understand a particular religious situation in the history of the Philippines, intertwined with other elements in which the Filipino was immersed and influenced.