Pedro Pablo Peláez y Sebastián (June 29, 1812 – June 3, 1863) was a Filipino Catholic priest who favored the rights for Filipino clergy during the 19th century. He was

diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

of the

Archdiocese of Manila In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

for a brief period of time. In the early 19th century, Peláez advocated for the secularization of Filipino priests and is considered the "Godfather of the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

." His cause towards

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has been initiated, and he is designated with the title "

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

Life

Pedro Pablo Peláez was born on June 29, 1812, to José Peláez Rubio, the Spanish ''alcalde'' (mayor) of Laguna and his wife Josefa Sebastián, a Filipino from Manila. As was common custom, he was

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

for the day of his birth, which was the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. When both of his parents died in 1823, he was taken in by Dominican friars in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, who sent him to study at the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then enrolled at the University of Santo Tomás to finish his studies for the priesthood. Among his professors was Francisco Ayala. Peláez was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1837,Mojarro, Jorge. "Father Peláez and his search for justice", ''The Manila Times'', May 19, 2020
/ref> and although he chose to be a secular priest, he kept close ties with the Dominicans all his life. A gifted theologian, he served at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and was sometime the

Diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

of the Archdiocese of Manila. From 1836 to 1839, he taught philosophy at the Colegio de San José, and later various subjects at his '' alma mater'', the University of Santo Tomás, from 1843 to 1861.

Defense of local clergy

In the mid-19th century, the Philippines was still a Spanish possession despite the

empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

losing territory to independence movements. Travel between the metropole and the colony became easier due to the 1859 opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. An increase of ''Peninsulares'' from the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

threatened the secularization of the Philippine churches. In state affairs, '' Criollos,'' known locally as ''Insulares'' (lit. "islanders"), were displaced from government positions by the ''Peninsulares'', whom the ''Insulares'' regarded as foreigners. In 1849, a royal decree removed a few parishes from control of the secular clergy, which was mainly Filipinos, and gave those parishes to the Recollects and Dominicans. Peláez countered that these parishes had been successfully managed for the past eighty years, and the parishioners were happy. Along with Father Mariano Gómez, Peláez began organizing activities calling for the return of these churches to secular priests, considered among the first signs of Filipino nationalist awakening. Seeking to have the royal decree withdrawn or amended, Peláez anonymously published a long formal protest titled ''El Clero Filipino'' (“The Filipino Clergy”) in the Spanish newspaper, ''El Clamor Público'', in 1850. The seculars lost further parishes when the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s returned to the Philippines in 1861 decades after their suppression and expulsion. Together with Francisco Gaínza, Peláez founded ''El Católico Filipino'', the first Catholic newspaper in the Philippines. With his knowledge of

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

, Peláez wrote against this policy, criticising both secular and regular clergy, Spanish or Filipinos when appropriate. Peláez died in the collapse of the Manila Cathedral during the deadly 1863 earthquake in

In popular culture

* Peláez was portrayed by Piolo Pascual in the 2023

period film A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

, '' GomBurZa''.

References

Sources

* Spanish emigrants to the Philippines Filipino Servants of God 1812 births 1863 deaths People from Laguna (province) 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Philippines Deaths in earthquakes Natural disaster deaths in the Philippines Colegio de San Juan de Letran alumni 19th-century venerated Christians University of Santo Tomas alumni {{Philippines-stub

Life

Defense of local clergy

In popular culture

See also

References

Sources