Christianization of the Philippines

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to discussion on how the Catholic religion took root, spread, survived, and progressed in the Philippines. It seeks to address the Christianization of the pre-Hispanic Filipinos and the subsequent embedded-ment of the Church in indigenous culture. It also discusses on H. Richard Niehbur’s typology of the gospel-culture relationship as discussed by De Mesa (2007). From the fundamental congruencies between Filipino traditional religion and Catholic Christianity, this paper asserts that the lack of tension between the traditional religion of the native Filipinos and Catholicism allowed Christianity to take root, develop, and dominate in the Philippines. In addition, the entrenchment of the Church in indigenous culture and its expression in church architecture, religious art, and popular devotions specifically in the Church of Saint James the Great at Paete, Laguna and San Pedro de Alcantara Church at Pakil, Laguna are discussed. This is to correlate the important contributions of Baroque churches and religious art in the Christianization of the people in the Philippines.