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The Site of The First Mass in The Philippines: Butuan or Limasawa?

The document discusses the ongoing debate around the site of the first Catholic mass in the Philippines, which was celebrated by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. There are two main competing traditions - Limasawa Island in Leyte or Butuan City in Agusan del Norte. Primary sources like the accounts of Pigafetta and Albo provide evidence for Limasawa, while the Butuan tradition has been accepted by early Jesuit historians. However, more recent examination favors Limasawa based on these firsthand sources. The debate remains unresolved with both sides continuing to make historical arguments to support their claim.

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NAVARRO, Sophia L.
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213 views24 pages

The Site of The First Mass in The Philippines: Butuan or Limasawa?

The document discusses the ongoing debate around the site of the first Catholic mass in the Philippines, which was celebrated by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. There are two main competing traditions - Limasawa Island in Leyte or Butuan City in Agusan del Norte. Primary sources like the accounts of Pigafetta and Albo provide evidence for Limasawa, while the Butuan tradition has been accepted by early Jesuit historians. However, more recent examination favors Limasawa based on these firsthand sources. The debate remains unresolved with both sides continuing to make historical arguments to support their claim.

Uploaded by

NAVARRO, Sophia L.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE SITE OF THE FIRST MASS IN

THE PHILIPPINES:
Butuan or Limasawa?
• Antonio Pigafetta, chronicler of
The Issue Magellan’s expedition
mentioned in his record that the
first Mass celebrated in the
Philippine soil was held on
March 31, 1521 on the island
called “Mazaua”.
• The Mass was attended by two
chieftains: the rajah of Butuan
and the rajah of Mazaua.
• After the celebration, the party
went up a little hill and planted
a wooden cross
The Issue

"After the cross was erected in


position, each of us repeated a
Pater Noster and an Ave Maria,
and adored the cross; and the
kings [Colambu and Siaiu] did the
same.“

- Antonio Pigafetta
The Issue

• The subject of dispute is the


identity of the place
“Mazaua” mentioned by
Pigafetta .
• The are two disagreeing
school of thoughts about the
said place:
• Limasawa, Leyte; or
• Masao at the mouth of Agusan River
in Northern Mindanao, now Butuan
City.
The Site: Limasawa

Proclamation of the national shrine

• On June 19, 1960, Republic Act No. 2733, called the Limasawa Law, was
enacted without being signed by the President of the Philippines. The
legislative fiat declared The site in Magallanes, Limasawa Island in the
Province of Leyte, where the first Mass in the Philippines was held is
hereby declared a national shrine to commemorate the birth of
Christianity in the Philippine.
The Limasawa Tradition

Proclamation of the national shrine

• Magallanes is east of the island of


Limasawa. In 1984 Imelda Marcos
had a multi-million pesos Shrine
of the First Holy Mass built, an
edifice made of steel, bricks and
polished concrete, and erected on
top of a hill overlooking barangay
Magallanes, Limasawa.
The Site: Butuan

• Other Filipino historians has long contested the idea of Limasawa as the
site of the first Catholic mass in the country. Historian Sonia Zaide
identified Masao (also Mazaua) in Butuan as the location of the first
Christian mass.
The Site: Butuan

• In 1995 then Congresswoman Ching Plaza of Agusan del


Norte-Butuan City filed a bill in Congress contesting the
Limasawa hypothesis and asserting the "site of the first
mass" was Butuan. The Philippine Congress referred the
matter to the National Historical Institute for it to study the
issue and recommend a historical finding. Then NHI chair
Dr. Samuel K. Tan reaffirmed Limasawa as the site of the
first mass.
The Debate: Butuan Tradition

1. The strength of the tradition and representing it. A monument was


erected in 1872 near the mouth of the Agusan River within the
boundary of Butuan. Which is currently belong to the separated
municipality of Magallanes.
The monument is inscribed in Spanish:
The Debate: Butuan Tradition

2. The Butuan tradition was accepted as fact without questions by two


Jesuit historian
a. Fr. Francisco Colins S.J. (1592-1660) whose Labor Evangelica was
first published in Madrid, Spain in 1663. Fr. Pablo Pastells S.J. republished a
three-volume with annotation on 1903, Madrid the works of Fr. Colins.
The Debate: Butuan Tradition
The Debate: Butuan Tradition

b. Fr. Francisco Combes S.J. (1620-1665) Whose Historia de


Mindanao y Jolo was printed in Madrid on 1667 two years after his death.
230 years later W. Retana reissued an edited version entitled Combes
Historia de Mindanao.
The important point of Combes account is that Magellan
landed in Butuan and planted a wooden cross but did not mention about
the first Mass. He placed Magellan in Limasawa-Butuan-Limasawa route.
The Debate: Butuan Tradition

c. Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga (1760-1818) An Augustinian friar,


whose Historia de Filipinas was published in Sampaloc in 1803. W. Retana
brought it up in two volumes in 1893. Fray Juaquin said:
The Shift of Opinion

Question: Why there is a suddenly a shift of opinion from Butuan to


Limasawa?

Some recent defenders of the Butuan Tradition have blamed Emma Blair
and James Robertson whose 55-volume collection of the documents of te
Philippine Island was published in Cleveland from 1903-1909. Though they
contribute enormously to the shift in opinion, it was Fr. Pastells who
initiated a counter opinion.
The Debate: Limasawa Tradition

• The shift of opinion from Butuan to Limasawa was due to a rediscovery


and a more attentive study of two primary sources on the subject namely,
Pigafetta’s account and Albo’s log.
• Fr. Pastel affix in his footnote of his own edition of Colin’s Labor
Evagelica upon an extensive review of Albo’s log and Pigafetta’s account
the following:
The Debate: Limasawa Tradition

• Even Dr. Jose Rizal came across the Italian version of Pigafetta’s accounts
wrote to Marcelo H. del Pilar in Feb 4, 1894 said:
The Debate: Limasawa Tradition

The Evidence of Limasawa may be outline as follows:


1. The evidence of Albo’s Log-Book;
2. The evidence of Pigafetta
a. Pigafetta’s testimony rearding the route;
b. The evidence of Pigafetta’s map;
c. The two native kings;
d. The seven days at “Mazua”; and,
e. An argument of omission.
3. Summary of the evidence of Albo and Pigafetta.
4. Confirmatory evidence from the Legaspi expedition.
The Debate: Limasawa Tradition

PIGAFETTA’S MAP OF MAZAUA


The Alternative Tradition

Bolinao
• Odoric of Pordenone, an Italian and
Franciscan friar and missionary explorer, is
heartily believed by many Pangasinenses to
have celebrated the first mass in Pangasinan
in around 1324 that would have predated
the mass held in 1521 by Ferdinand
Magellan, which is generally regarded as the
first mass in the Philippines. A marker in
front of Bolinao Church states that the first
Mass on Philippine soil was celebrated in
Bolinao Bay in 1324 by a Franciscan
missionary, Blessed Odorico.
The Alternative Tradition
References:
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1962 by Del Carmen Juliana). Philippine History.
Manila, Philippines: Inang Wika Publishing Co
"Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1974). Introduction to Filipino History. Quezon
City, Philippines: GAROTECH Publishing. ISBN 971-10-2409-8.

Borrinaga, Rolando O. (2007-04-14). "The right place for disputed first


Mass in Limasawa". Inquirer Visayas. Inquirer.net. Retrieved 2007-11-
12.

.
Hartig, O. (1911). Odoric of Pordenone. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved May 17, 2017 from
New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12281a.htm

Mercado, Monina A. (Editor) (1985). Dioramas:a visual history of the


Philippines. Metro Manila, Philippines: Ayala Museum.

Pigfetta, Antonio (ca. 1525). Helen, Emma; Robinson, James Alexander,


eds. The Philippine Islands 1493-1898. BiblioBazaar, LLC (published c.
1905). p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4264-6706-6. ISBN 1-4264-6706-0, ISBN 978-
1-4264-6706-6
• "REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2733 - AN ACT TO DECLARE THE SITE IN
MAGALLANES, LIMASAWA ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE OF LEYTE,
WHERE THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES WAS HELD AS A
NATIONAL SHRINE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF
HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS THEREAT, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES". Chanrobles Law Library. June 19, 1960. Retrieved
2008-12-13.
Valencia, Linda B. "Limasawa: Site of the First Mass". Philippines News
Agency. Ops.gov.ph. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15.
Retrieved 2007-11-12.
• Ben Serrano (April 4, 2006). "Butuan reclaims part as first mass
venue". sunstar.com.ph. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
• Isagani Medina (1981). An Evaluation of the Controversy on the First
Mass in the Philippines. Manila: National Historical Institute. pp. 31–
35. ISSN 0115-3927.
• Fuertes, Yolanda (17 Nov 2007). "Bolinao stakes claim to Mass held in
1324". Inquirer.net. Northern Luzon Bureau. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014.
• "Was First Mass held in Limasawa or Butuan? Church urged to help
settle controversy". interaksyon.com. April 3, 2012.
• Bibliography

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