Pedro Pelaez

Pedro S. Pelaez (born June 29, 1812 in Pagsanjan , Laguna Province , † June 3, 1863 in Manila ) was a Filipino priest of the Roman Catholic Church who campaigned for reforms in the Spanish colony of the Philippines . He is considered one of the co-founders of the secularization movement within the Catholic Church and an important reformer of the education system in the Philippines.

He was born the son of the Spaniard Jose Pelaez Rubio and the Filipina Josefa Sebastian Gomez Lozada. His status as a mestizo gave him other options. His parents died at the age of eleven. He was accepted into the Dominican monastery in Manila and was soon sent to the Colegio de San Juan de Letran for training. He completed his training with a Bachelor of Arts. Afterwards he wanted to become a priest. He enrolled at the Pontifical and Royal University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Manila and earned a total of three academic degrees. He earned the Bachelor of Theology in 1833, the Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1836 and the Doctor of Sacred Theology in 1844.

Pedro Pelaez was ordained a priest in 1833 and, among other studies, performed the priestly services at the Cathedral of Manila . On April 18, 1862 he became diocesan administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila , in this position he had influence on reforms within the church. In addition to his work at the Cathedral of Manila, he taught philosophy from 1836 to 1839 at the Colegio de San Jose, now part of the Ateneo de Manila University , and from 1843 to 1861 at the Papal and Royal University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Manila. He taught, among others, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora , both of whom were influenced by his teachings and together with Mariano Gomez went down in Filipino history as the GOMBURZA Trio . Burgos supported Palaez while he was still alive in the secularization movement in the Philippines. Pelaez was commissioned by Governor General Antonio Urbiztondo in 1852 to develop reform proposals for the education system in the Philippines, the proposals were implemented in the Educational Decree of 1863 . From 1861 to 1862 he was the author of articles in the newspaper El Catolico Filipino in which the grievances in the society of the colony openly addressed and demanded equality of the Filipinos in education and business.

On September 10, 1861, a royal decree was announced that provided for the appointment of Filipino priests to be abandoned and the parishes led by them to be handed over to the order of the Augustinian recollects . Pelaez then wrote a protest note to Governor General Jose Lemery, in which he threatened to start a crusade if the decree were to be implemented. However, Pelaez died on June 3, 1963, without being able to complete his work, in an earthquake that destroyed Manila Cathedral. At that time he was leading mass in the cathedral.

Web links

• Short biography of Pedro Palaez