MANILA, Philippines — Little did our ancestors suspect that the early Spanish missionaries and conquistadores were both travelling with heavy baggage. Whence they came (the Kingdom of Spain), there were two kinds of Christians, the cristianos viejos and cristianos conversos. The former were Christians from at least four generations back while the latter were converts, i.e., their families had embraced the faith out of expediency – to escape mass exile ( in the case of Jews) or after the reconquista (for Muslims) or to survive the Holy Inquisition. Those who were not fortunate enough to be of cristiano viejo stock were deemed unworthy and denied the sacred sacrament of Holy Orders. Products of mixed marriages whether racial or religious were even more unworthy. In the long run, because of such stringent statutes, only the nobility and aristocracy could qualify. So the “limpieza de sangre,” literally purity of blood, which began as a religious rule spread into the social realm.

During that idealized mass baptism in Cebu in 1521, what could Magellan and the missionaries have been thinking? They must have had a lot of mental reservations. They were complying with the Patronato Real which demanded that conquest and Christianization be inextricably linked as the ultimate goal of the Spanish monarchs, but in truth, they knew that there were constraints as Christianization would never be taken to its logical consequence – eventual priesthood for the indio cristiano converso. The same was the case in the other colonies of Spain in the Americas and the Caribbean.

Curiously, Christianization was conducted through children, the “niños y señoritos,” young sons of the native aristocracy and nobility. That was a devious strategy that effectively destroyed ancient beliefs and subverted social hierarchies from within by pitting the young against the old through the propagation of the conqueror’s religion. Sons of local chiefs and nobles, the younger the better, were made to live in the conventos, humbled with servile work yet elevated to the new status of “co-missionaries.” Dressed in grayish gowns simulating priestly garb, they explained to their communities, the rituals and symbols of Christianity. They received some kind of education and training; great must have been their expectations to be ordained priests someday. However, neither the Church nor the State had any such intention due to the centuries-old priestly baggage of “limpieza de sangre.” None of the “ninos y senoritos” would ever be accepted by religious orders like the Franciscans, Agustinians, Dominicans, Recollects, etc. Those lucky enough to qualify for Holy Orders became secular priests like GOMBURZA.

Native “co-missionaries” could also become hermanos donados, who lived within the religious orders but could not take the vows. It was a compromise solution unacceptable for Hermano Puli (Apolinario de la Cruz) who when denied ordination formed his own Cofradia de San Jose and translated the Pasyon and the Life of Christ into the search for salvation of an oppressed colonial society. Dangerously large was his flock in Tayabas and Laguna, so in 1841, poor Hermano Puli was accused of rebellion, beheaded, drawn, and quartered by the very Church/State that had coddled him from childhood. (Reynaldo Ileto, 1979)r

The priestly baggage of the Spanish empire is thoroughly explained in Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa’s Beginnings of the Filipino Dominican (UST Publishing House,1990, reprinted 2007 ). An eminent member of the Order of Preachers, he used to wonder why there were no Filipino Dominicans until much later. While searching for answers, he came across incredible primary sources in various countries. This scholarly tome, fruit of his relentless archive-worming, is truly fascinating, to say the least. (gemma601@yahoo.com)