Sunday, September 24, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home News Main Stories

Factbox: Catholicism in the Philippines

AFPbyAFP
January 9, 2017, 10:56 am
in Main Stories
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

Key facts about the Catholic religion in the Philippines as one of its biggest annual events, the Feast of the Black Nazarene is held on Monday.

NUMBERS: About eight in 10 Filipinos are Catholic, making the nation of more than 100 million people Asia's bastion of Christianity. There are many other popular Christian denominations, including a powerful homegrown group called Iglesia ni Cristo. Muslims make up about 5.6 percent of the population, government figures say.

HISTORY: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan claimed the islands for Spain in 1521 on a voyage to circumnavigate the globe. The archipelago was named after the Spanish monarch King Philip II. Spanish rulers and friars entrenched Catholicism, over what had been mainly polytheist, animist and Muslim populations during nearly 400 years of colonial rule that ended when the Americans wrested control in 1898. 

UNIQUE WORSHIPPING: Filipino Catholics are known for enormous, colourful and in some cases extreme expressions of piety.

Thousands of barefoot devotees join the religious procession in Manila each January hoping to touch a centuries-old icon of Jesus Christ, called the Black Nazarene, which is believed to have miraculous powers. 

Other extreme forms of worship include Easter devotees who whip their backs bloody while others have their hands nailed to crosses in all-too-real imitations of Christ's passion on Good Friday.

POLITICAL POWER: The largely conservative local church became an agent for change when it opposed then-president Ferdinand Marcos' martial rule in 1972-1981. It then helped to lead a bloodless "people power" revolt that ended his 20-year reign in 1986. However its influence has waned in recent years with the recently elected President Rodrigo Duterte openly mocking Church figures who criticise his policies.

INFLUENCE ON LAWS: Church lobbying has helped to ensure the Philippines remains the only state in the world aside from the Vatican where divorce remains illegal. Abortion and same sex marriage are also outlawed.

MODERNISING VALUES: The Church led a long but ultimately failed campaign against artificial birth control. It ended with a law, passed in 2012, requiring the state to supply condoms and birth control pills, as well as provide sex education in schools. Duterte has vowed to expand the programme.

Many Filipinos also ignore the Church on key family value issues, with hundreds of thousands of women having illegal abortions each year. Many people also live together without getting married. Others in unhappy marriages deeply resent the Church for preventing divorce. 

SAINTS: The Philippines has two saints, both martyred while spreading the faith to the rest of the region: The first is San Lorenzo Ruiz, killed in Japan in 1637 and canonised in 1987. The other is San Pedro Calungsod, a catechist who was killed in Guam in 1672 and canonised in 2012.

PAPAL VISITS: In 1970 Pope Paul VI became the first pontiff to visit the country. He survived a knife attack by a Bolivian painter dressed as a priest. The attacker was subdued and the visit proceeded without further incident.

Pope John Paul II visited in 1981 and again in 1995. On the latter visit, an estimated five million people attended a mass in Manila's central park that was at that time the world's biggest papal crowd. 

That record was broken in January 2016 when an estimated six million people gathered at the same park for an open-air mass by Pope Francis.

Tags: CatholicNazarenePhilippinesReligion
ADVERTISEMENT
AFP

AFP

Related Posts

Church declared National treasure

December 2, 2017, 12:01 am
0
10

THE National Historical Commission of the Philippines designated the Saint Joseph Parish Church in Las Piñas – the home of...

Read more

Court issues arrest warrant for De Lima

byArlene Lim
February 23, 2017, 4:20 pm
0
11

Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) has issued a warrant of arrest for Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday afternoon. This...

Read more

130 killed in three days of Syria clashes

byAFP
February 23, 2017, 2:42 pm
0
9

More than 130 people, mostly combatants, have been killed in three days fighting between jihadists close to the Islamic State...

Read more

US Supreme Court blocks death sentence over racial bias

byAFP
February 23, 2017, 2:38 pm
0
8

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday offered at least a temporary reprieve to a Texas death row inmate, agreeing that...

Read more

Ex-yoga missionary unleashes rage on PH miners

byAFP
February 23, 2017, 2:30 pm
0
9

After two decades as a yoga missionary, Philippine Environment Secretary Regina Lopez is unleashing her inner rage on the mining...

Read more

First drug-resistant malaria parasite detected in Africa

byAFP
February 23, 2017, 2:28 pm
0
9

For the first time in Africa, researchers said Wednesday they have detected a malaria parasite that is partially resistant to...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • US VP Kamala Harris sets out to rally young and minority voters
  • Mali will ‘not stand idly by’ if military intervention in Niger
  • Verstappen wins Japanese GP, Red Bull clinch title
  • Filipino fisherman chased by China coast guard in disputed waters
  • Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank raid: ministry
  • Outcry, questions after France’s ‘chilling’ journalist arrest
  • Red Sea corals threatened by mystery sea urchin deaths
  • Bavarian village to decide future of key BMW factory

Advertisement

Latest News

Outcry, questions after France’s ‘chilling’ journalist arrest

byAFP
September 24, 2023, 2:00 pm
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

It was just after six in the morning on Tuesday when the agents came to the home of French journalist...

Read more

Red Sea corals threatened by mystery sea urchin deaths

byAFP
September 24, 2023, 1:30 pm
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

The Red Sea's spectacular coral reefs face a new threat, marine biologists warn -- the mass death of sea urchins...

Read more

Bavarian village to decide future of key BMW factory

byAFP
September 24, 2023, 1:00 pm
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

A sleepy Bavarian village could decide the future of BMW's drive towards electromobility as it goes to the polls on...

Read more

Survivor of Australian lethal mushroom mystery leaves hospital

byAFP
September 24, 2023, 12:30 pm
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

An Australian man who unwittingly ate the same dish containing deadly mushrooms that killed three other diners has been released...

Read more

Thousands march against police violence in France

byAFP
September 24, 2023, 12:00 pm
0
8
Fresh protests, arrests over teener’s killing rock France

Tens of thousands of people marched in France Saturday to protest police violence in demonstrations organised by the left, with...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Pets
  • Tech
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Cravings
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Agriculture
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App