Missions and social works.
The Province’s missions in the 19th century
St Ezequiel Moreno
Spreading out throughout the world (1896-1906)
he missionary history of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (and that of the Order) had in the decade of
1896-1906 an inflection point. The loss of the Spanish colonies had two consequences: the need to find new Centres
of work for those missionaries expelled from the Philippines; and the definitive end of the colonial system, of the
pressure of the State on the missions and the arrival of full autonomy for the Church.
The Augustinian Recollection, that for centuries had stayed almost completely in Spain, Columbia and the Philippines opened itself to a great multitude of countries throughout the 20th Century. In green, the countries that received the Recollects throughout the 20th Century.
The Philippines lost its privileged position in the Province and passed discretely to a secondary level. Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Mexico are the countries where they diversified the missionary activity. If in 1896 there 336 Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines, only eight years later in 1904 there were seventy-one. Many suffered in prison and at least twenty-five died in a violent way. 202 left for Spain between August 1898 and January 1900.
A good number of these were redirected towards the American continent, where in coming years the Recollect presence in South America grew at a rapid rate. Only the Provincial visit in 1906 would see a recovery in activity and the sending of missionaries to the Philippines by way of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. But America would be the principal destination.
The Augustinian Recollection, that for centuries had stayed almost completely in Spain, Columbia and the Philippines opened itself to a great multitude of countries throughout the 20th Century. In green, the countries that received the Recollects throughout the 20th Century.
The Philippines lost its privileged position in the Province and passed discretely to a secondary level. Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Mexico are the countries where they diversified the missionary activity. If in 1896 there 336 Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines, only eight years later in 1904 there were seventy-one. Many suffered in prison and at least twenty-five died in a violent way. 202 left for Spain between August 1898 and January 1900.
A good number of these were redirected towards the American continent, where in coming years the Recollect presence in South America grew at a rapid rate. Only the Provincial visit in 1906 would see a recovery in activity and the sending of missionaries to the Philippines by way of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. But America would be the principal destination.
St Ezequiel Moreno
