Filipinos celebrate 500 years of Christianity

Friday, Apr. 01, 2022

BOUNTIFUL — To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines, which was March 17, Filipinos in the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City will host a Sinulog Festival April 24 that will include a Mass, a video presentation, folkloric dances and a feast of traditional foods.

Christianity was introduced to the Philippines by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who arrived in the Visayan region in 1521. 

In Utah, “where there are not so many Catholics and not so many Filipinos, being able to be given a chance to celebrate 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines is a great blessing from God,” said Father Joshua Santos, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden. He and other members of the Utah Filipino community are organizing the festival.

A Sinulog Festival is a traditional celebration to honor the Child Jesus. During the festival, a dance ritual tells the story of the Filipino people’s pagan past and how they accepted  Christianity.

“I felt strongly connected with my fellow Filipinos in the Philippines in celebrating this great milestone in the history of the Catholic Church,” Fr. Santos said.

Although his country of origin is smaller than California in terms of size, it is recognized as the third largest Catholic country in the world next to Brazil and Mexico, which “is just amazing,” Fr. Santos said. “I am so proud to be Catholic. I am so proud to be a Filipino.”

In the Philippines, the anniversary was cause for a yearlong celebration that began last April and will continue through April 22 of this year. For the celebration, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines chose the theme “Gifted to Give.”

The gift of faith was given to Filipinos in 1521, “and after 500 years we continue to share the gift we received all over the world,” Fr. Santos said.

As a Filipino priest, “I feel that I am sharing the gift of my person and the gift of my priesthood with the different communities that I served since I arrived here in Utah,” he added. 

During his time in Utah, he has ministered in Salt Lake City and Logan as well as Ogden.

“Even if I am not in the Philippines, I carry with me the values and virtues I learned and loved when I was in my country, the values and virtues of joy, gratitude, hospitality, hard work, industry and, above all, faith,” he said, adding that he shares these everywhere he goes.

To be able to celebrate the Catholic faith in the midst of the diversity and all the things that the world is going through is also a gift from God, he said.

“I am a firm believer that there is just so much beauty in diversity. We don’t have to have uniforms in order to be united. Each individual is unique; no two people are exactly the same,” he said, adding that “recognizing the beautiful diversity in the diocese [of Salt Lake City] is more of a gift than a curse.”

Through diversity, people have the opportunity to “see the beauty and richness in others, it allows growth when we appreciate diversity. In diversity, we enhance what is beautiful and eliminate whatever is sinful,” said Fr. Santos, inviting all to attend the Sinulog Festival.

“We want everyone to see who we are that will be expressed in our different cultural dances, in our food, and especially in our smiles. So please join us in this beautiful event,” he said.

WHAT: Sinulog Festival

WHEN: Sunday, April 24, beginning at 5 p.m.

WHERE: St. Olaf Catholic Church, 276 East 1700 South, Bountiful

Free and open to the public.