The Spanish Friars were the crucial elements in the Westernizing of the

Philippine Archipelago The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism, monotheistic religion based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, life and Teachings of Jesus, teachings of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. It is the Major religious groups, world's ...

in that part of the world. Journeying with the first European explorers to these islands in the Far East, they came with the intention of establishing

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

under the

Patronato real The ''patronato'' () system in Spain (and a similar ''padroado'' system in Portugal) was the expression of royal patronage controlling major appointments of Church officials and the management of Church revenues, under terms of concordats with th ...

of the Kings of Spain. After the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

es brought the Filipinos under the rule of the Spanish crown, either by peaceful means of treaties and pacts or, alternatively, by war, Spain did not send large

standing armies A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars or n ...

to maintain its empire in the East. The

apostolic Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

zeal of the missionaries followed the efforts of men such as Miguel López de Legazpi, and aided to consolidate the enterprise of Hispanizing the Philippines. The Spanish missionaries acted as de facto conquerors; they gained the goodwill of the islanders, presented Spanish culture positively, and in so doing won approximately 2 million

converts Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

. Commenting on the very small standing army that protected the Spanish government in the Philippines, an old

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

of New Spain was quoted: "En cada fraile tenía el Rey en Filipinas un capitan general y un ejercito entero (In each

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

in the Philippines the King had a captain general and a whole army"). French historian Par J. Mallat made a similar observation. He stated: "C'est par la seule influence de la religion que l'on a conquis les Philippines, et cette influence pourra seule les conserver ("It is only by the influence of religion that the Philippines was conquered. Only this influence could keep these slands).

Role of the Friars in Hispanicized Parts of the Philippines

Because of the scarcity of Spanish officials in the Philippines, most often the

was the only Spaniard in a town. Aside from his religious activities, the friar also had authority in administration of the colony. He supervised the election of the gobernadorcillo and cabeza. He was the keeper of the list of residents of the town. His signature had to be seen on all financial papers of the town. The friars also served as mediators who quelled insurrections. It was because of the friar's spiritual function that people believed and feared him. He was also influential because of his knowledge of the native language and his ordinarily long stay in a town.Philippine Civilization History and Government by Celestina Boncan et.al published by Vibal Publishing House p.114

References

{{reflist Captaincy General of the Philippines