Religious Influences from the Spanish Invaders

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Religion in the Philippines is diverse. There is a wide range of spiritual beliefs in the country. A big percentage of these came from the Roman Catholicism, which was influenced by the Spaniards who came to colonize the country. Spain influenced us in a lot of ways. Religion, particularly Roman Catholicism is one. The indigenous or early Filipinos were a blending of monotheism and polytheism. Although they believed in a Supreme Being, called Bathala, they still worshipped other gods, believed in a spirit world of anitos and diwatas, and engaged in ancestor-worship and animism. They also adored certain animals and even the plants. All these comprised the religious beliefs of the pre-colonial Filipinos. To the Spaniards, such practices and beliefs were evidence that Filipinos were being enslaved by the devil. And for them, it was their duty to free the Filipinos from this enslavement. With the desire to convert pagans to the Christian faith, missionaries accompanied the Spanish voyages to the Far East. But upon arriving in the Philippines, the geography of the islands posed a big challenge to the Spaniards. As what I’ve learned, the early Filipino locals started to be converted to Christianity when Magellan and his crew arrived in Cebu. But the effort was cut short by his death in the hands of the native warriors of Lapu-Lapu’s tribe in Mactan, Cebu. It was only in 1565 and through the endeavors of the Spanish adelantado, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi that Christianization and colonization in the islands formally began. The first missionaries who launched a modest but daring attempt to convert the natives were the Augustinians who came with the Legazpi expedition. Much-needed assistance was supplied with the arrival of the Franciscans in 1578. The Jesuits followed suit in 1581. The Dominicans and Augustinian Recollects arrived in 1587 and 1606 respectively. The
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