Part 3 (1/2)
THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS PERSECUTED BECAUSE THEY UPHOLD RELIGION.
On what grounds are the religious bodies persecuted? Simply because they uphold true and sound doctrine, and have never shown a weak front to the enemies of G.o.d and of their country. If we had shown ourselves pusillanimous in sight of the works of Masonic lodges, and in presence of the propagation of the politico-religious errors imported from Europe; if we had given the faintest mark, not of sympathy, but even of toleration, to the men who were scattering broadcast false notions of liberty condemned by the Church; if patriotism had cooled in our hearts, or if the innovators had not found in each Philippine religious an intractable and terrible adversary to their plans,--the religious congregations would never have been disturbed. On the contrary, we should have been extolled to the skies, the more so because our enemies do not ignore the fact that, were we to help them in the Archipelago, were we to give them our support, or at least were we to remain silent, we should thereby give them an undisputed victory.
But they know well that our standard is no other than the Syllabus of the great Pontiff, Pius IX., so frequently confirmed by Leo XIII., wherein all rebellion against the powers is so energetically condemned. Yea! truly they hate us, and under different names and on divers pretexts they are making such a cruel war upon us that it would seem as if the Freemasons and Revolutionists had no other enemies in the Philippines than the religious bodies.
THE RELIGIOUS PERSECUTED AS LOYAL SPANIARDS.
Apart from their essentially religious character, the regular clergy of the Archipelago are the sole Spanish inst.i.tution, permanent and deeply-rooted, which exists in the islands--a vigorous organization well adapted to these regions. While the civil and military officials on the one hand, who come from Spain, live here only for a time, fulfilling their duties more or less wisely according as it is for or against their private interests, and yet are ignorant of the languages of the country, and have only a superficial intercourse with the Islanders, we, the religious, come over here to sacrifice our whole existences, dispersed often one by one amongst the remotest tribes. When we bid an eternal farewell to our native sh.o.r.es, we voluntarily condemn ourselves, by virtue of our vows, to live forever devoted to the moral, religious, and civil education of the natives; and we have waged many conflicts in their behalf.
CRAFTINESS OF THE INSURGENT CHIEFS.
Seeing that we were the most deeply rooted, influential, and best-respected Spaniards in the country, and that we would come to no terms with them or their projects, the rebel chiefs determined to demand our expulsion from the Government. They were aware that they would be backed up in their demand by many among the Spanish residents in the Archipelago, who, led by pa.s.sion and ignorance, lend a willing ear to all who declaim against the religious Orders, especially when the watchwords used are ”Free Thought,” ”Liberty of the Press,” ”Secularization of Education,” ”Ecclesiastical Liquidation,” ”Suppression of the Privileges of the Clergy.”
Thus the pa.s.sword among the rebels became, especially since the Treaty of Biac-na-Bato, the emanc.i.p.ation of their country. They declared they had no dislike to Spanish administration, nor any intention of separation from Spain; what made them rise in rebellion were the abuses of the clergy, and their only demand was the expulsion of the religious Orders. But these were lying declarations, as numerous judicial and non-judicial doc.u.ments containing the plans of the conspirators have proved. They made these false professions because they knew that if they declared that the insurrection was brought about by the numerous abuses of power which have been committed by civil and military functionaries, they would have all the Spanish element in the Archipelago leagued against them, and would have the door closed to all their means of propaganda.
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
We ask, in the first place, where are these abuses which are always the subject of their declamations in the clubs and lodges? We preach the Gospel, and not only do we draw to a civilized life the barbarous tribes of the Archipelago, whom we have preserved peaceful and happy for three centuries, as the whole world knows, but we have always been the defenders of the natives, who are subjected to a thousand vexations on the part of the Spanish lay residents. At all times we have watched over the purity of the Faith and the preservation of good morals, showing ourselves inflexible against illegal exactions, immoral games, and those who lead scandalous lives. After all that has been written against us for so many years, we defy our calumniators, and do not fear an honest and impartial examination of our lives and works. Let those who murmur and speak against us, prove by exact dates and authentic doc.u.ments that their accusations are well founded.
They say we are enemies of education and of the diffusion of knowledge; if by education they mean the teaching of doctrine condemned by the Church, we are at one with them; but there is no education in the ordinary sense of the term, primary, secondary, or superior, in the islands that has not been founded, encouraged, and sustained by the clergy. It is well known that very few of the native officials who went through their course in our schools have taken part in the rebellion; and the proclaimers of ”Free-thought”
are, for the most part, individuals who failed in their career, and were the refuse of our cla.s.ses.
As to the accusations of immorality which are recklessly levelled against us, all we have to say is that everyone can see our monasteries and convents and ourselves, and can form a judgment on our lives; the parish priests and missionaries are alone, surrounded by a mult.i.tude of natives; everyone can see what we are doing, and hear what we are saying; our European figures and sacerdotal character bring us into such prominence before the people that it would be stupid to imagine that we could hide our doings.
We consider, as not worthy of reply, the impudent a.s.sertion that in the country parts we are despots; that in a thousand ways we suck the blood of our tenants; charges often before refuted by the most explicit doc.u.mentary evidence. Neither is it worth while speaking of the abominable calumny of attributing to us the pa.s.sage through the country with armed force, and the imprisoning and torturing of those implicated in the first revolt. All this is part of the absurd fable that we are absolute masters, not only of the consciences of the people, but of the Archipelago itself; statements contradicted by the very men who make them, when they declare in the Cortes that we have lost all influence and all prestige in the islands.
CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
The utter want of religion to be found among a great number of the Spanish residents, the facility with which the ancient laws of the Archipelago were changed, the instability of the public functionaries, a fruitful source of abuses, contributed for several years to discredit the Spanish name. But Freemasonry, as the world knows, has been the princ.i.p.al cause of the social disorganization of the Philippines. The Hispano-Philippine a.s.sociation of Madrid was Masonic; the Masons were almost alone in the work of urging on the natives to make war on the clergy and the Spanish residents; they authorized the founding of lodges in the Archipelago. It was the Masons, too, who formed the ”Katipunan” society, so essentially Masonic that in the terrible ”compact of blood”
they make, they are actually imitating the Carbonari of Italy.
In consequence of the teaching of the Freemasons, the voice of the parish priest has no longer any effect on numbers of the natives, especially at Manila and in the neighboring provinces, where they are accustomed to give themselves airs of importance and independence; and the prestige of the Spanish name has grown considerably less, and disappeared entirely in many places. What wonder, then, if the powerful instincts of race awoke, and that, pondering on the fact that they had a language and climate and territory of their own, the rebels should try to build a wall of separation between the Spaniards and the Malays? Is it not natural that having been brought to believe that the friar is neither their father nor the pastor of their souls, nor their friend and enthusiastic defender, but, on the contrary, a spoiler, and that the Spanish resident is only a money-grubber, having more or less power and authority, they should have desired to free themselves from the Spanish authority?
Six months ago the ”Katipunan” society was limited to the mountains of Langua and Bulacan, where the rebel chiefs had taken refuge, and also counted some adherents among certain tribes in touch with the insurgents. But now the plague is widespread; the insurgents violating the promise made to the gallant Marquis of Estella, and at the call of a secret signal, have scattered themselves over the central provinces, and by means of cruelty and terrorism have succeeded in enrolling in their ranks a great number of natives who after the submission at Biac-na-Bato gave pledges of fidelity to Spain. They have also succeeded in intrenching themselves at Capiz and in other parts of the Viscayas. The rising in Zambaies, Pagasinan, Iloco, and Cebu are all of recent origin; and the same may be said of the ”Katipunans” discovered at Manila.
However, the greater part of the country is not yet perverted; a wave of hallucination and fanaticism has pa.s.sed over it, but the heart of the people is still sound, and with careful management they will return to their usual habits of peace and submission. The move wealthy cla.s.ses are also sound, and are against the rebellion.
We frankly tell the Government that if it does not aid the Church, the revolutionary movement will increase every day, and it will be morally impossible for the religious to remain here any longer. What good is it for us to do our duty to the people when others are allowed to undo our work at the same time? Of what use is it for us to teach the people to be docile and submissive when their worst pa.s.sions are excited by others, who tell them to make nothing of our teaching? What professor could teach successfully if his pupils were met outside the cla.s.sroom by respectable persons who told them to despise his lessons? The civil authority, according to the teaching of the Church, ought as far as possible to be a bulwark to religion and morality. If the Government, therefore, does not protect us from the avalanche of insults hurled against us; if it does not root out the secret societies; if it allows our sacerdotal character to be trodden under foot while our enemies destroy the fruit of our labors,--we regret to say that we cannot continue our ministry in the islands.
Spain has bound herself very stringently to obligations of this nature. One of the laws of the Code of the Indies says expressly on this point: ”We command the Viceroys, the Presidents, the Auditors, the Governors, and the other functionaries of the Indies, to favor, and aid, and encourage the religions orders who are occupying themselves in the conversion of the natives to our entire satisfaction.”