Dream of becoming a Bishopric

Fifteen years into the American regime, the population of Catholics in Davao region was anywhere close to 80,000 which, in terms of ratio, was 45 to 55% of the estimated demographics. This was followed by animist and indigenous believers at 20 to 30%; Islam followers, with 10-15%; Protestants, mostly American missionaries, 2 to 5%; and Japanese Shinto/Buddhist devotees, 1-3%.

Given the expanding population of Catholics, Fr. Raimundo Peruga, SJ, in his letter dated July 1, 1915 addressed to the Rev. Fr. Ramon Lloberola, the father provincial, floated the idea of creating the Davao Mission into a bishopric, the equivalent of a prelature. He cited the expansive territory under the Jesuit jurisdiction as a major reason. He wrote:

“The Mission of Davao encompasses the entire territory of its name; and, measured in a straight line, its coastline extends over 50 geographic leagues. However, since the missionary, in exercising his ministry, cannot travel in a straight line, but rather follows the undulations and bends of the coast where the souls he seeks reside, and this extension is nearly double that of straight lines, it follows that the distance the Missionary of Davao must travel is no less than 100 leagues. Given this, who does not see that the name of Bishopric, or perhaps Patriarchate, would be more fitting for the Mission of Davao than simply a mission?”

A month and half later, in a letter addressed to Fr. Pio Pi, SJ, Fr. Peruga, once again, reiterated the idea of a bishopric, writing that the mission of Davao “should be called a patriarchate.”

The urgency to organize the mission into a Catholic See was compounded by the inroads the American Protestant pastors were gaining in areas they had visited. Obviously, the lack of priests, mission workers, and volunteers affected the spread of the Gospel, calling the mission of Davao as a “disastrous state.” Fr. Peruga described the challenges emphatically in his letter to Fr. Pi:

“There is work for many good workers, but in reality, not a single one who can run among the myriads of neighborhoods and dependencies found in this main or head office. The Superior is tied to the care of the school, which cannot be abandoned, and I find myself useless because of my deafness. If we appeal to the Superior, he shrugs his shoulders, saying he has no one to command. And the worst part is that meanwhile, the heretics are making a killing by freely spreading their errors and tricks.” Aside from calling the Protestant preachers heretics, they were also considered as fearsome enemies “of Catholicism in Davao in general, and of children in particular” by calling them “an association of wealthy Americans who have set out to spread Protestantism in this Davao Mission.”

The successful conversions by the Protestants also had something with their numbers. Up until 1915, there were only three religious attending to the spiritual needs of the people in the entire Davao mission. In his letter dated Dec. 15, 1915, to Fr. Miguel Saderra, SJ, Fr. Peruga wrote: “Beginning with the two brothers, it must be noted that, despite their good will, one being very old and the other suffering from rheumatism, neither can accomplish much in their role as Martha.”

Apparently, the earnestness to address the shortage of priests did not pick up until 1935 when Bishop Luis del Rosario, S.J., the prelate of Zamboanga, visited Quebec to invite Canadian missionaries to Mindanao. At the time, the Foreign Mission Society of Quebec, known more by its PME initials, or Société des Missions-Étrangères du Québec and founded on Feb. 2, 1921, was only fourteen years old. On Sept. 14, 1937, the first batch of PME Fathers set foot in Davao.

Two years after, the PME Fathers took over the Davao Mission from the Jesuits regrouped in Zamboanga. It was not until Dec. 17, 1949, though, that the Prelature of Davao was established by Pope Pius XII through the apostolic constitution “Quo in Philippina Republica.”