De La Salle Brothers Philippine District

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The De La Salle Brothers - Philippine District is part of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the largest congregation of Roman Catholic religious Brothers who are exclusively dedicated to education. [1] The Institute was founded in Reims, France in 1680, with over 75,000 De La Salle Christian Brothers together with lay colleagues established globally 1,500 Catholic, Lasallian educational institutions worldwide in 82 countries. [1]

Contents

Background

In the aftermath of the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine–American War, which immediately followed, the Protestant denomination, first introduced by the new American colonial masters and aided by the newly arrived American teachers, the Thomasites, was gaining a foothold among Filipinos because of the then strong anti-Spanish Friar sentiment existing at that time. [2] Due to the then very small number of Catholic educational institutions in the country, the then American Archbishop of Manila Jeremiah James Harty, himself an alumnus of a De La Salle Christian Brothers school in St. Louis, Missouri, would appeal to the Superior-General of the Christian Brothers in 1905 for the establishment of a De La Salle school in the Philippines. While there was growing pressure for a De La Salle school, Archbishop Harty's request was rejected, because of the Christian Brothers' lack of funds. Nonetheless, Manila Archbishop Harty continued to appeal to Pope Pius X for the much-needed establishment of additional Catholic schools in the country.

History

Arrival in the Philippines

The nine pioneer Brothers at Paco DLSBrothers.jpg
The nine pioneer Brothers at Paco

On March 10, 1911, upon instructions from the Vatican to the La Salle Generalate, Brothers Blimond Pierre from France (who would serve as the school's first director), Aloysius Gonzaga, and Augusto Correge, arrived in the Philippines from Europe. Six other De La Salle Christian Brothers arrived between March and June: Brothers Louis, Camillus, B. Joseph, Celba John, Imar William, and Martin. The Christian Brothers came from the United States, Ireland, Luxembourg, and France.

Together, on June 16, 1911, the Christian Brothers opened the first La Salle school in the country. The location is at the former Perez-Samanillo Compound on 652 Calle Nozaleda in Paco, Manila. The school was first attended by 100 students. [2]

Reactions from the locals

The initial perception of Filipinos about the then newly arrived De La Salle Christian Brothers was that they were no different from the Spanish Friars who were previously the sole handlers of Philippine education for almost three hundred years. Over time, the De La Salle Christian Brothers established their religious vocation as being a group of full-time religious educators who have consecrated their lives to God with the mission of providing Christian education to the vulnerable youth, especially the lost, the least, and the last around the world.

In 1921, the Brothers transferred the school from its original site in Paco, Manila to the then-wooded newly constructed Taft Avenue in Malate, Manila because of the increasing school population. During this time, the Christian Brothers' devotion to education would be recognized by the numerous visits of heads of state to De La Salle and by the proclamation of De La Salle College as the Philippine Islands' Premier School for Boys by Dr. Paul Monroe and a commission of American educators, after an eight-month cross-country inspection of existing Philippine schools in the 1930s. [2]

The February 12, 1945 massacre

After the war, the school chapel, formerly dedicated to St. Joseph, was blessed and re-dedicated to the Most Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament at De La Salle University, Manila.jpg
After the war, the school chapel, formerly dedicated to St. Joseph, was blessed and re-dedicated to the Most Blessed Sacrament

On February 12, 1945, a Japanese Army officer along with 20 soldiers forcibly made their way into the college, which was then a refuge for 70 people, including 30 women and young girls, 16 European De La Salle Christian Brothers (all the pre-war American De La Salle Christian Brothers had been interned in the Los Baños Concentration Camp) and the college's chaplain-Redemptorist Father Cosgrave CSSR (an Australian), and the adult men of two families. Two days earlier, De La Salle College Director-Brother Egbert Xavier Kelly FSC (an Irishman) was abducted by another group of Japanese soldiers, and was never seen again.

After the Japanese troops herded all the people into the school chapel, they were then subsequently shot, slashed or bayoneted. Those who did not die in the attack were left to bleed to death. The Japanese attempted to rape some of the dying women. The chapel was then set on fire, but it was not destroyed because it was built of marble and concrete. Only 10 people survived, including one De La Salle Brother. [3]

The 1939-built De La Salle Main Chapel is one of the few structures to survive the destruction of Southern Manila during the Manila massacres in February 1945.

The following are those who were massacred in February 1945 by the Japanese:

The Philippine District

Brother Visitors of the Philippine District
Br. Justin Lucian FSC, 1970
Br. Benildo Feliciano FSC, 1970-1976
Br. Rolando Dizon FSC, 1976-1977 [5]
Br. Victor Franco FSC, 1977-1983
Br. Rafael Donato FSC, 1983-1990
Br. Raymundo Suplido FSC, 1990-1993
Br. Benildo Feliciano FSC, 1993-1997
Br. Armin Luistro FSC, 1997-2003
Br. Edmundo Fernandez FSC, 2003-incumbent

Up until the 1960s, the Christian Brothers in the Philippines was a sub-district (Province) of the De La Salle Institute District of San Francisco and thereafter, up to the establishment of the Philippine District in 1970. On February 2, 1970, the Philippine Province became an independent District of the Institute, to be known as the De La Salle Christian Brothers in the Philippines. At present, the sub-district of Myanmar is under the Philippine District.

The Brother Visitor

The Brother Visitor is the official title of the head of a particular District of the Christian Brothers, although for purposes of communication with non-members of the La Sallian family, the title, Brother Provincial is used because of its commonality with the title used to describe the district heads of other religious congregations.

The Brother Visitor is the person responsible for assigning Brothers to their communities and providing for the different posts of responsibility as deemed necessary by the District Chapter. He is also responsible for admitting candidates to the Novitiate as well as the making of vows. Also, as specified in canon law, he is authorized to issue writings on matters of religion or morality.

The Philippine District has had eight Brother Visitors, who are elected for three-year terms. The first was Brother Justin Lucian FSC, who was elected in 1970 and was also the last Auxiliary Visitor from the Baltimore District. The incumbent is Brother Edmundo Fernandez FSC.

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De La Salle Philippines

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Andrew Gonzalez

Brother Andrew Benjamin Gonzalez, F.S.C. was a Filipino linguist, writer, educator, and a De La Salle Brother. He served as president of De La Salle University from 1979 to 1991 and from 1994 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001 he served as Secretary of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports under the presidency of Joseph Estrada. After his term ended, he returned to De La Salle University as vice president for Academics and Research from 2001 to 2003 and as Presidential Adviser for Academics and Research from 2003 to 2005.

Jaime Hilario Integrated School – La Salle Private, non-stock, school in Sitio Looc, Brgy. Banawang, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

Jaime Hilario Integrated School – La Salle is a Lasallian co-educational primary and secondary school located in Bagac, Bataan, in the Philippines. It was opened by the De La Salle Brothers in 2006 to cater to the farming and fishing community. It is the 16th school of De La Salle Philippines, a network of Lasallian schools in the Philippines.

Jeremiah James Harty Roman Catholic archbishop

Jeremiah James Harty was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the 26th Archbishop of Manila in the Philippines from 1903 to 1916 before returning to the United States, where he served as Archbishop of Omaha from 1916 to 1927.

Brother Rafael S. Donato, F.S.C., was a Filipino De La Salle Brother and a President of De La Salle University Manila, University of St. La Salle, De La Salle Lipa, La Salle Green Hills and De La Salle Araneta University.

Hyacinth Gabriel Connon Lasallian Brother

Hyacinth Gabriel Connon, F.S.C., was a Lasallian Brother and President of De La Salle University in Manila from 1950 to 1959 and 1966 to 1978, the second president to have served two terms in the history of the university, the first being Brother Acisclus Michael, F.S.C. He had the longest time to exert his influence on the university, initially for nine years, subsequently for twelve for a total of twenty-one years.

Brother Albinus Peter Graves, F.S.C., was an American Lasallian Brother who was last posted to the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines and was a President of De La Salle College in Manila.

Egbert Xavier Kelly

Brother Egbert Xavier Kelly, F.S.C., was an Irish De La Salle Brother who was last assigned to the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines and was kidnapped and then murdered by the retreating Japanese Imperial Forces at the De La Salle College, of which he was President, during the Allied Liberation of Manila during World War II.

Lucian Athanasius Reinhart De La Salle Brother

Brother Lucian Athanasius Reinhart, F.S.C. was an American De La Salle Brother who was last assigned to the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines and was a President of De La Salle College in Manila.

Antony Ferdinand Kilbourn De La Salle Brother

Brother Antony Ferdinand Kilbourn FSC was an American De La Salle Brother who was last assigned to the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines and was Acting President of the De La Salle College in Manila while Brother Lucian Athanasius Reinhart, F.S.C., was on leave.

Armin Luistro Former Secretary of Education of the Philippines

Brother Armin Altamirano Luistro, FSC is a Filipino Lasallian Brother who served as secretary of the Department of Education of the Philippines under President Benigno Aquino III. Luistro entered De La Salle Scholasticate in Manila on April 1979 while he was studying in De La Salle University (DLSU). He received the religious habit of the congregation on October 1981 at the La Salle Novitiate in Lipa. He professed his first religious vows on October 1982, and his final vows on May 1988.

The De La Salle Brothers in Myanmar are part of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the largest congregation of Roman Catholic religious Brothers who are exclusively dedicated to education. The Institute was founded in Reims, France in 1680, with over 75,000 Brothers and lay colleagues who conduct schools as well as educational works in about 80 countries worldwide. It is now under the Lasallian Brothers in the Philippine District.

Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Manila, Philippines

The Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament is the main and largest chapel of De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines. It is located on the second floor of the south-most wing of the St. La Salle Hall, the oldest building of the university. The chapel was designed in art deco style by the commissioned architect, Tomás Mapúa. Built in the 1930s, the chapel pews were hewn from narra and carried the Signum Fidei Star, the sign of faith and the symbol of the La Salle Brothers.

History of De La Salle University

The history of De La Salle University dates back to 1911, when the Christian Brothers opened the De La Salle College (DLSC) in Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila, Philippines. It is the first La Salle school established by the Christian Brothers in the Philippines, and the oldest constituent of De La Salle Philippines (DLSP), a network of 16 Lasallian educational institutions established in 2006 replacing the De La Salle University System.

References

  1. 1 2 "De La Salle Institute District of San Francisco". delasalle.org. Retrieved 13 July 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 De La Salle University-Manila (2003). Student handbook: 2003-06. Manila: De La Salle University-Manila.
  3. ↑ "The Sack of Manila". battlingbastardsbataan.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2006.
  4. ↑ "St. Johann | Osnabrück - Blutzeuge". Archived from the original on 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  5. ↑ Acting Brother Visitor
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