HISTORY

The last mission field which the Society of the Divine Word accepted during the lifetime of the Founder was the Philippines. The expulsion of the Spanish friars from the country at the end of the Spanish rule over the Islands left many parishes vacant. The filipino clergy was not prepared to assume full responsibility for the local Church. While several explanations could be given from which to learn valuable lessons the fact is that the Church in the Philippines needed the help of new missionaries from other lands.

Pope Leo XIII issued appeals to modern congregations especially to share their missionary services, in the form of parish work.

What moved Fr. Arnold Janssen to send his missionaries to the Philippines was the report of Fr. Limbrock, prefect apostolic of the German New Guinea, on the situation of the Church in the country. An excerpt from the report said:

"Conditions for successful missionary activity are as favorable here as in any country in the world. For centuries, the Catholic missionaries have worked here with great success. The harvest is ripe and needs only to be gathered and secured. If Catholics do not do it, the heretics will. The people long for instruction...If all of us who can help do not help, the losses will be incalculable."

"There is no other nation in the Far East that is so receptive to spiritual and economic advancement, education, christianization, true virtue, the arts and progress in every respect. With what contempt and pride do, not all Mohammedans and Buddhists oppose the spread of Christianity. It is different in the Philippines. It almost breaks one's heart to see these good-hearted people fall prey to error and even paganism through lack of missionaries."

With this, came requests from the papal delegate at that time, Msgr. Ambrose Agius, OSB and Bishop Dougherty, bishop of Vigan. The latter offered six vacant parishes in Abra to SVD missionaries.

But death overtook Fr. Arnold Janssen in 1909 before the SVD missionaries were able to come over the Islands.

On the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady in 1909 the first SVD missionaries (from Steyl) landed in the Philippines. Since that time the SVD has played an active role in building the Kingdom of God in the country.