7 children baptized to commemorate 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines

Seven children in Cebu were baptized to commemorate 500 years since the first baptism in the country and the establishment of the Christian faith in the Philippines.

Archbishop Charles J. Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, presided over the Pontifical Mass of the Commemoration of 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines on Wednesday, April 14.

“How beautiful is it that we, brothers and sisters today, celebrate what happened 500 years ago by doing exactly the same thing that Father Pedro de Valderrama did. We will baptize, we will give rebirth in the spirit to these 7 wonderful children,” Archbishop Brown said during his Homily.

The children hailed from different communities in the island, with one coming from an indigenous group in Cebu. They were also later given the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The faithful all over the country watched the Eucharistic Celebration streamed online as only select guests were allowed in the area as a safety precaution against the coronavirus disease. Only select parish representatives, local officials, and some guests were allowed in the venue to physically attend the Holy Mass.

Brown pointed to the distinct “Filipino expression” of Catholicism that developed within 500 years of Christianity in the country.

“What is so beautiful about Philippine Catholicism and what we celebrate today – with hearts filled with joy – is that fact that in these 5 centuries, in these 500 years, the Catholic faith has entered deeply into Filipino culture. And has produced a distinctively Filipino expression of the unchanging and universal truth of the Catholic faith,” he said.

“We see the result of that process in countless elements of Filipino Catholicism. Simbang Gabi masses for example. Today, we see that process in the devotion to the Santo Niño,” he added.

The Apostolic Nuncio also recognized how Filipino immigrants brought their faith and their undying devotion to the Blessed Child with them to the different parts of the world they have settled into.

The first mass in the country, marking the start of the Christian faith, happened in Cebu in 1521, and was presided by Pedro de Valderrama, the only priest in the expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan. Among the first to be baptized were Cebuano chieftain Rajah Humabon, his wife Hara Amihan, and about 800 other natives on the island.

That same day, Italian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta gifted Hara Amihan– now baptized as Queen Juana – an icon of the Sto Niño. The icon of the Blessed Child would later become an enduring symbol for Catholicism in Cebu, and in the country.

From an expedition motivated primarily by commerce and expansion, what soon followed was 333 years of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. – Rappler.com