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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 December 2024
Abstract
The text examined here is attributed to Juan de Jesús OFM (d. 1706). It is the first of six chapters from a document that has no original title but is described as “Instrucciones a nuestros misioneros acerca de la predicación y confesión de los indios [Instructions to our missionaries regarding preaching to and taking confession of the Filipinos].” The chapter contains the author's assessment of a broad range of Filipino cultural practices, including musical performance, the making of musical instruments (specifically pipe organs), mechanical arts, shipbuilding, liberal arts, accounting, theology, and navigation. The text praises these accomplishments and gives examples of Filipinos who excelled in several of these fields. However, it also includes a disparaging remark about enslaved African people, and occasionally uses pejorative language that demonstrates colonialist attitudes of the time.
Keywords: Filipino cultural practices, Franciscan missions, music, organ building, shipbuilding, theology
A manuscript of fourteen folios in the Archivo Franciscano Ibero-Oriental (AFIO) consists of a set of instructions to Franciscan missionaries for preaching to Filipinos (who are described as indios) and taking their confessions. Although it contains no author's signature, the document has been attributed to Juan de Jesús OFM (d. 1706). According to Cayetano Sánchez Fuertes OFM, a paleographical comparison of this manuscript with others signed by Juan de Jesús confirms the identity of its scribe, and most likely also its authorship. The date of writing is established by internal evidence: on the recto of folio 1 there are two references to “este ano de 1703.” No original title is given, but the archive has cataloged the document as “Instrucciones a nuestros misioneros acerca de la predicación y confesión de los indios [Instructions to our missionaries regarding preaching to and taking confession of the Filipinos],” while historian Luciano P. R. Santiago has called it “Carta. Ano de 1703.” On the whole, the document does not appear polished or complete, as there are occasional blank spaces in the text for details that the scribe presumably intended to provide later. It seems possible that it was intended as a draft document for circulation within the Franciscan order. There are six chapters, of which the last takes up almost half the available paper. The subject matter revolves around the requirements, procedures, and challenges involved in religious ministry to the Filipinos.
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