diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

Jesus Ma. Cavanna tried to do this when he publiihed his book Rizal andthe Philippines of His Day (1975)." But such an attempt is necessarily •doomed to failure because it lacks the essential elements for success. Certaincharges which Rizal made against the friars are unquantifiable, or will neverbe the objects of a statistical recount or historical investigation. For example,it will never be possible to know the number of friars unfaithful to theirreligious vows; how many succumbed to the temptation of avarice, cruelty,etc. Nor, on the other hand, is it possible to know the number of those wholived a life in fulfillment of their vocation and in the sincere and.disinterestedservice of the faithful.We can indeed study facts and external attitudes which are certified, inwriting or otherwise, by means of documents or traditions available to anyresearcher. It would, however, be an imerminable enterprise studying case bycase the unlimited number of historical situations and facts that could be ofinterest to us. We shall limit ourselves concretely to the attitude observed bythe Franciscans in regard to the events that took place in the Philippinesbetween the years 1868, the year of the Spanish revolution, and 1872, the dateof,the Cavite mutiny, as well as other aspects related to the Franciscans of theProvince of Saint Gregory, less important, but not for that to be overlooked.VI. FROM FICTION TO FACTThe relations between the Church and the State following the Spanishrevolution of September 1868 were, generally speaking, openly hostile or, atleast, of an unrelieved tension. Both sectors of the clergy supported thedethroned Isabela II, and later the crown pretender, Don Carlos. That meansthe Church made common cause with the conservative parties, putting herselfthen, at least indirectly, against the triumphant tevolution. For their part, therevolutionaries answered the majority position of the Church by suppressingthe Society of Jesus on 12 October that same year, decreeing the closure ofseveral monasteries, convents, colleges, seminaries, and other religiousinstitutions founded after 1837, and committing other serious outrages. Howdid all this affect the Philippines?. The Franciscans in the Philippines and the Revolution of 1868The Franciscans in the Philippines followed closely the events connectedwith the September revolution of 1868, called "The Glorious." The firstnotices of serious developments then taking place reached the Philippines on150