Ambrose Coleman

“ 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. ”

“ The position of the religious Orders in the Philippines, just before the war broke out between Spain and America, had become so perilous and unbearable, that they addressed a long Memorial to the Spanish Government, exposing their grievances, explaining the cause of the rebellion, and suggesting remedies suitable for the situation.
This Memorial is more than a mere appeal to the Spanish Government. It is a challenge to the civilized world, made by men whose dignity and honor have been outraged by awful and unjust charges levelled at them by their foes, and spread far and near by the press. ”

“ It thus happened that the friars found themselves denounced and vilified in Spanish newspapers, in circular letters issued at Madrid, in speeches at the lodges and clubs, and in the Cortes. The grossest calumnies the foulest lies, were industriously circulated, to lower their prestige, and bring about a downfall of that spiritual power they had justly acquired, and were exercising for the good of souls. Nothing was known of the struggle in these countries until the Spanish-American war brought the Philippines into prominence before the English-speaking world. ”

“ The experiment tried in some of the islands of the West Indies of making the blacks small freeholders, and planting them on the bankrupt planters’ estates, has not been attended by such beneficial results to the land as to justify our hoping that a similar experiment in the Philippines will prove a success. The natives of the tropics in general are like overgrown children, blessed with the virtues and cursed with the faults of children, rejoicing in present abundance, and destitute of that measure of forethought for the morrow, without which there can be no human progress. ”

“ The seventeenth-century navigator, William Dampier, in his own quaint and amusing way, describes how the natives and the Spanish colonists of Manila strove to guard against the double danger of earthquakes and typhoons, and how they both failed ignominiously. The Spaniards built strong stone houses, but the earthquake made light of them, and shook them so violently that the terrified inmates would rush out of doors to save their lives; while the natives from their frail bamboo dwellings, which were perched on high poles, placidly contemplated their discomfiture. ”

“ The move wealthy classes 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 passions are excited by others, who tell them to make nothing of our teaching? ”

“ The officials seemed to take a delight in lowering the parish priest in the eyes of the better class of natives. If the parish priest ventured to advise the governors as to what was best to be done in the interests of the communes, especially with regard to the secret societies, the governors would laugh, call him a visionary—an innocent man. No wonder, then, that the parish priests gradually began to retire within themselves, and leave growing evils unchecked, when they saw all their endeavor balked by the powerful opposition of the civil and military governors. ”

“ These bodies, to the glory of Spain be it recorded, are composed of excellent and truly devoted men; men who without one hope of earthly reward, without a hope of ever again treading their native land, sacrifice with generous enthusiasm their lives, social surroundings, personal friendships, nay, even, in some places, their daily bread, to spread the light of the Gospel, and promote the interests of Spain. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Many people, in consequence, think that our very existence in the country is simply owing to pity and condescension on the part of the Government; that we are merely tolerated, and are of less value in the eyes of the [84] civil authorities than the members of any lay profession. With a marvellous facility all the evils that affect the country are laid at our door; and every time a governor makes a gross blunder in dealing with the natives, the evil consequences which flow from it are put down to us. Now, every class of society has a right to ordinary respect and fair treatment ”

“ If the Government through an error to which we cannot give unqualified respect, since it is contrary to the real interests of religion and of our country, believes that the mission of the Orders in the islands has come to an end, we nevertheless say to them: “We await your dispositions with sincerity, but do not flatter yourselves that in adopting measures against our religious professions you can burn a light both before Christ and before Belial.” ”

“ If, on the contrary, we are to remain in the islands, no one can deny that it is necessary to protect our persons, our prestige, and our ministry; our country must show that she is pleased with us, and treat us as her children; we must not be abandoned to our enemies as a thing of no value, and made victims of the resentment of the Freemasons. We do not fear martyrdom, which is an honor we do not feel ourselves worthy of; on the other hand, we do not wish to die as criminals abandoned by their friends and protectors, and deprived of all honor. ”

“ If, then, the Government, after due inquiry, find that the vast majority of the people do not join in the cry for secularization, but desire to have the Catholic religion taught in the schools which their children attend, it would be nothing short of religious persecution to introduce the public schools system of the States into the Philippines. It is ever to be borne in mind that the new American possession in the Far East is one in which the great bulk of the people are practical Catholics who attend to all their religious duties. ”

“ We cannot too strongly emphasize the great interest that the change of government in the Philippines should have for the English-speaking Catholic public, seeing that a Catholic population, as large, if not larger, than the combined Catholic population of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, is about to be brought under the influence of the English-speaking world, and in close touch with the Catholic Church in America, and, perhaps, later on, with ourselves. ”

“ A recent traveller designates the Philippines as the birthplace of typhoons, the home of earthquakes,—epithets undoubtedly strong yet well deserved; and typhoons at certain seasons of the year, with earthquakes at uncertain periods, when taken together with the torrid heat, trying at all seasons, and the malaria fruitful of fevers, make these islands of the Eastern seas, which otherwise would be a veritable Paradise upon earth, an undesirable place of abode to the average European, unless, indeed, he is attracted thither by the greed of gain or by the nobler desire of missionary enterprise. ”

“ Can we form a judgment of the sentiments of the Philippine people from the conduct of men who have treated their prisoners inhumanly, who have burned churches, looted schools and hospitals, treated ordinary ecclesiastical students with brutality, and subjected nuns in convents to shameful treatment? We have plenty of evidence that the natives on the whole are very much attached to the friars, whom they rescued, when they were able, from the hands of the rebels, and visited constantly while in captivity, doing their best to alleviate their sufferings. ”

“ She shall reap where others have sown and planted. Let her gird herself to the work, and go forth and gather with joy the good wheat that others—the poor Spanish missionaries—have sown in tears and cultivated through much tribulation. ”

“ But Freemasonry, as the world knows, has been the principal cause of the social disorganization of the Philippines. The Hispano-Philippine Association 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. ”

“ But these people seem to forget that we have established our authority in Luzon and the Visayas by the exercise of moral influence alone, backed up by the parish priest, for as none has such intimate and friendly relations with the people as the priest, so no one knows better than he what the people think, nor is any one better able to give them wise advice, to restrain them, and influence them for good. He alone can make Spaniards of them. By his office and position he is best fitted to make things easy for our minor officials in their different charges and districts. ”

“ Without saying anything in disparagement of the learning of a body of men which has produced a Gonzalez, one of the greatest philosophers of the century, we believe that American priests, being more in touch with modern times and more open to modern ideas, could give them valuable lessons in the conflict between the Church and the world, as it is carried on in our own days. ”

“ With common sense for their guide, let Protestants reflect for a moment that the Philippines form an integral part of the Catholic Church, that the religious Orders that are governed by generals in Rome, that systematic visitations are made, and that the conduct of every individual is subjected to strict ecclesiastical scrutiny from time to time. Accordingly, unless they hold that the authorities in Rome are willing to allow an appalling [50] evil of the kind to go on without protest, how can they believe that it exists at all? ”

“ Even were we to fill the ranks of the army entirely with Spanish recruits, we should not improve matters, for then there would be an immense increase to the expenditure, whereas at present the Orders cost us next to nothing. All the religious live in common after the manner of a corporation; so that whatever the priest receives, goes to the support of all, and to maintain their colleges and seminaries in Spain. Far, then, from being an inconvenience in the Philippines, religious zeal is our surest support, and should be by every means promoted and encouraged. ”

“ If not able to pay, the priests here marry them gratis, just as you or I or any other minister of the Gospel would do in America. For rich or poor there is no fixed fee; that is left entirely to the contracting parties. For baptisms and deaths the rule is the same. Indeed, for baptisms, the priest rarely receives more than one dollar, and more often he receives nothing at all. For deaths they go even further than we do in America, as every parish church keeps a supply of coffins on hand to give gratis to those who are too poor to employ an undertaker. ”

“ In a word, I know of no better means of civilizing the natives than the missionary post.
“It is clear that as society progresses in civilization and enlightenment, the less we are dependent on the influence of the priest; for as civilization advances organization becomes more perfect. What I deduce from this is that the reforms necessary in these islands should be carried out in logical succession, and in proportion to the state of civilization in each province. ”

“ The truth of the matter is that the rebellion in the Philippines against Spanish rule was not the uprising of a whole people. Of what account, except for brute force, are some thousands of armed men out of a peaceful population of eight millions. The insurrectionary movement was planned, and directed almost exclusively, by the mestizos, or half-breeds,—the offspring of the union between native women and the Chinese, who form a large proportion of the town population, and do most of the retail trade. ”

“ In Luzon and the Visayas the Government should make religion a support on which to lean, and should regard the existence of the Religious Orders as a most effective means of spreading and diffusing civilization, and of consolidating vast multitudes of men of different [126] and widely separated races. It is only by gaining the good-will of these masses we can hope to rule them and draw them to ourselves. In the establishing of new outposts and ranches, we must count on the influence of the missionary. ”

“ One of the grievances of the rebels is that nearly all the ecclesiastics in the Archipelago have been Spaniards, and they demand an entirely native clergy. Now, the Catholic Church has been always most anxious to form a native clergy in missionary countries, but insuperable difficulties have often prevented the realization of this idea. Among colored races there is a paucity of real vocations; it is hard enough to get the people to live up to the Christian ideal without adding thereto the grave responsibilities and life of self-sacrifice of the priesthood. ”