FRANCISCANS IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Franciscans arrived in Manila on July 2, 1578. Upon their arrival, the first fifteen
friars were temporarily housed in the Augustinian convent in Intramuros. Then they finally
moved to their own residence on August 1 of the same year. The next day they blessed their new
church and placed it under the protection of Our Lady of the Angels. After few months, they set
off for the evangelization of the archipelago. In Manila, they founded Santa Ana de Sapa, Paco,
Pandacan, Sampaloc and San Francisco del Monte. With the arrival of more friars, the Province
of St. Gregory the Great was finally erected on November 15, 1586.

In the ensuing years the Spanish Franciscans labored energetically in many places in the
country. Since their arrival until the end of the Spanish rule in 1898, the Franciscans were able to
establish and/or administer 207 towns/parishes in the following areas: Manila, Bulacan, Rizal,
Laguna, Quezon Province, Isabela, Cavite, Batangas, Bataan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Camarines
Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Albay, Sorsogon, Burias Island, Marinduque, Mindoro, Samar, and
Leyte.

Aside from the founding of towns and parishes, the Franciscans also dedicated
themselves to the establishment of institutions of charity such as: the San Juan de Dios Hospital
(1580), Naga Hospital of San Diego (1586), Hospital of the Holy Waters in Los Baos (1592),
and San Lazaro Hospital the first leprosarium in the Far East (1580). The Franciscans also
excelled in the field of languages. Fray Pedro de San Buenaventura, composed the first Spanish-
Tagalog dictionary (Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala) that was published in Pila, Laguna in
1613. The Bicolano-Spanish dictionary printed in 1745 was authored by Fray Marcos Lisboa.
The authorship of the first book printed in the Philippines in 1593, the Doctrina Christiana, was
attributed to Fray Juan de Plasencia. Fray Juan de Oliver wrote the first catechism on the 10
commandments in Tagalog. The first water system in Manila and free loan-banks (Montes de
Piedad) were established through the efforts of Fray Felix Huerta, OFM. They were also
involved in the building of infrastructures such as roads, dams and bridges. Some Franciscans
became bishops. Among them were Ignacio de Santibaez, first archbishop of Manila (1595);
Luis Maldonado, first bishop of Nueva Caceres in Naga (1595); and Martin Maria Alcocer, last
Spanish bishop of Cebu (1886).

By the year 1896 there were 275 Franciscans in the Philippines administering over a
hundred parishes and mission areas. However, at the end of the Spanish colonial rule in 1898,
many friars departed. By 1900 there were only 70 friars left. In 1905, the seat of the
administration of the Province was transferred to Madrid, Spain. What was left was a Provincial
Commissariat established to oversee the remaining ministries of the Spanish friars. On July 16,
1931 a seminary was opened in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City for Filipino candidates. In
1948 only 23 Spanish Franciscan remained in the Philippines.

In 1951, the Italian Franciscans from the Province of St. Anthony in Venice opened a
mission in Cagayan Valley. These were mostly composed of the friars expelled from China
during the Communist takeover. In 1952, American friars from the Province of the Assumption
of Pulaski arrived and took over some parishes in Samar upon the invitation of the Bishop of
Calbayog. In 1956, another group of friars from the Province Sta. Barbara, California, USA, came
to work in the diocese of Dumaguete. In the same year, another batch of American friars from the
Province of St. John the Baptist in Cincinnati, Ohio, established their presence in Leyte and
Biliran Island.

In 1962 the Our Lady of the Angels seminary was founded. OLAS was built through the
joint efforts of the foundations (Spanish, Italian and American), and one of its objectives was to
develop the native Franciscan vocation and eventually establish an indigenous Franciscan
presence in the country.

The increasing number of Filipino friars and the decision of other members of the
foundations to work in the country led to the erection of the Vicariate of San Gregorio Magno on
March 25, 1970. Thirteen years later, on January 25, 1983, the Province of San Pedro Bautista in
the Philippines was inaugurated.

On July 2, 2007, the Custody of San Antonio de Padua was inaugurated during a
Eucharistic Celebration presided over by the Minister General himself, Jose Carballo. The
Custody covers both Visayas and Mindanao.