A Short History of the Church in Antigua*1

by Ángel Martínez Cuesta OAR

Proem Through his papal bull Quo plenius, Pope Paul VI erected on 16 June 1978 the Diocese of , assigning to it the territory of province, which had belonged since 1939 to the Diocese of Surigao and, previously, to those of Cebu (1595-1910), Zamboanga (1910-1933) and Cagayan de Oro (1933-1939). The 25th anniversary of the diocese is a good occasion to retrace a short synthesis of its history. Since Tandag was always closely related with the history of the dioceses of , Surigao and Mati, the origin and development of Christianity in that territory cannot be understood if such link is done away with. All that made me put the historical account within a framework that includes the whole region known until 1848 as Caraga, i.e., the land area occupied by the provinces of Davao Oriental, , Surigao del Sur, and .

The beginnings, 1622-1700 In 1622 eight Augustinian Recollect missionaries arrived at Tandag. A year before, on 1 March 1621, the bishop of Cebu had entrusted to the Recollects the evangelization of “the encomiendas and districts of Butuan, Sampongan and Caraga” with all the towns, rivers and mountains, “the small islands of Siargao up to Tandag, where a Spanish garrison was erected, as well as the encomienda of and Cateel” (Bullarium OAR 1, 467-68). Two Recollects remained in Tandag where a military detachment was stationed. For a century and a half, Tandag would be the center of the mission and seat of its superior. The rest of the missionaries spread out and headed north. A small group, composed probably of three religious, went to Butuan and from there they proceeded towards Cagayan and Linao which was situated upstream of Agusan River. Another small group traveled to the northern shores of Surigao where they gave rise to the doctrinas of Gigaquit, and Cantilan as well as to those of the adjoining island of Siargao. Still a much

1 *Written for the 25thAnniversary of the Diocese of Tandag in 2003.

170 Ángel Martínez Cuesta, OAR smaller group of missionaries later trekked to the southern region of Caraga Bay.

The work of the missionary was not easy. The region was not yet pacified, and its inhabitants viewed all the Spaniards with suspicion. With the exception of the Butuan natives, with whom several Jesuits from Bohol and Cebu had worked sporadically from 1596 to 1614, it can be said that the natives knew no other Spaniards but the soldiers, who in 1609 had built an intimidating fort at Tandag, as well as the encomenderos and tribute-collectors. It was too hard for them to differentiate the Church and missionaries from the conquest and encomenderos. The ministers had to face the obstacles of the psychological and religious sphere, like the polygamous practices of village chiefs, the possession of slaves and inordinate attachment to religious rituals and traditions. The violent death of the first two missionaries tragically gives us an idea of the gravity of these barriers. In 1623 Father Juan de la Madre de Dios ended his earthly life at the hands of Datu Suba upstream in Tago River. The datu was irritated by the Recollect minister’s insistence on the deliverance of a woman from slavery. He pierced the missionary’s body with a lance. In the following year Brother Juan de San Nicolás perished in a sinking incident caused by the natives of Gigaquit. Even so, evangelization rapidly progressed until July 1631 when it was brusquely disrupted by the widespread rebellion of the “Caragas.” In a few days’ time the rebels sacked the pueblos, razed kumbentos to the ground, desecrated sacred vessels, slew four missionaries—Jacinto de Jesús María in Cateel, Juan de Santo Tomás and Alonso de San José in Tandag, and Pedro de San Antonio in Surigao—and captured two, namely, Lorenzo de San Facundo and Francisco de San Fulgencio. These missionaries saved their lives through the unexpected protection of Mangabo, one of the rebel leaders. Traditional historiography deemed the four religious as martyrs. But the motives which aroused the rebels’ fury and forced them to take up arms were not perhaps totally religious in nature. Lying side by side with the corpses of the religious were several dead soldiers and encomenderos. During the exaction of the tribute, small boats owned by the Recollects and loaded with rice were found. Their evangelization method was similar to what was adopted in other regions of the archipelago. At the outset, with the assistance of the Tandag fort, they worked as roving missionaries, traversing shores, rivers and estuaries, in search of natives scattered in the countryside and fields. They later established some pueblos where they erected in each a simple church made of bamboo, wood and nipa, and a parochial house or kumbento. They further encouraged a few more natives who had agreed to abandon their fields

A Short History of the Church in Caraga Antigua 171 to build houses. Ordinarily, only from this moment did the minister administer the sacrament of baptism. In the 17th century, the missionaries who worked diligently in the whole Caraga region were rarely more than ten. In 1655 the ten missioners were distributed among five residences from where they exercised spiritual supervision over some 10,000 Christians, scattered in about thirty communities occupying several thousand square kilometers. The ministers of Tandag administered likewise the garrison or fort of the place and the towns of Marihatag, Lianga, Tago and Cantilan which was then created out of two villages named Calagdan and Bayoyo or Palasao. The Recollects of Butuan served the communities of Jabonga, Amongan, Arwayan, Linao, Hibong and Odyongang. The missionaries of Cagayan reached as far as Iponan, Tagoloan, Compot and Camiguin Island. The ministers of Siargao attended to the needs of the villages in the islands of Dinagat and Siargao—Sapao [renamed Santa Monica], Cabuntog [present-day Luna] and Cacub or Caolo [Del Carmen today]—, Bacuag, Gigaquit, Bolor and Surigao, while those of Bislig administered Hinatuan, Cateel, Baganga and Caraga. All of them had under their jurisdiction groups—more or less numerous—of heathens and undocumented people. In 1671 a missionary fixed his residence in Cateel in order to support the evangelization of the Mandayas in the area in collaboration with the doctrineros of Bislig. Within a few days, they successfully reduced over a thousand. With the Christians of the coastal area, the Mandayas shared a common hatred towards the Moro who was starting to seriously vex their daily lives. However, the Moro systematic raids against Caraga did not begin until the 18th century. A decade of terror During the 18th century, Christian life of the region went on around four ministries carried over from the preceding century. But their geographic situation was not always the same and in some periods, more or less lengthy, it counted on other centers of evangelization. In 1753 the minister of Siargao moved his residence to Surigao which after years of hesitation was promoted as cabecera of the doctrina and administrative capital of the province. In 1755 Tubay, Jabonga and were separated from Butuan in order to form a new doctrina which survived only until 1767 or 1768. Still more ephemeral were those of Calagdan and Gigaquit, erected in 1746 and suppressed three years after. The doctrina of Siargao, re-established in 1748, was again closed in 1761. In 1768 five or six religious worked in the area. These missionaries attended to about 10,000 souls who lived in four traditional doctrinas.

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The plight of these ministries was getting worse year after year. After the re-opening of the garrison of Zamboanga in 1719, the Moros renewed their raids against the Christian communities of the Visayas. Year after year, the natives of Jolo, the Maguindanaos, the Maranaos, and the Tirons put out to sea and fell upon the unprotected Christian pueblos, sowing desolation and death. Nonetheless, except for a certain year (1722) when they laid siege against the fort of Cateel, at the outset the eastern coast of Mindanao was relatively free from raids. But in 1749 the missionaries already grieved over the destruction of a good number of visitas of Butuan and Siargao. The kumbentos, churches and houses of Tubay, Sapao and Cabuntog “were reduced to ashes, and the [Moros] captured more than 3,000 people from the entire province of Caraga.” The 1750s were even more tragic. In 1755 the Moros razed to the ground the pueblo of Caraga where they desecrated the Blessed Sacrament and torched the districts of Siargao and Butuan together with their ten visitas. Tandag and Bislig were kept incommunicado. The most difficult moment was the surrender of the Tandag garrison in October 1754, a victim more of famine and internal disputes than of a Moro raid. In the ensuing years, the fort was successfully rebuilt, but it never regained the strength it enjoyed in earlier decades. Tandag entered the phase of decadence that was hastened by the British Invasion of Manila in 1762 and by new Moro attacks against the fort in 1761 and 1767. In 1791 the Recollects opted to move the cabecera of the doctrina to Cantilan. In 1768 Caraga region was on the verge of collapse. With impunity, the Moros traversed its shores and pillaged its pueblos, too small and defenseless to pose an effective resistance. The Manila government did not have the situation under control. The sole resistance stemmed from the missionaries. They erected bulwarks, organized volunteer groups and devoted a good part of their stipends to the acquisition of the most indispensable weapons. In 1790, for example, Father Joaquín Encabo, future bishop of Cebu, distributed a number of cannons and falconets in the towns of the Siargao Island, Bislig and Gingo-og. Their resistance, however, did not turn out to be effective. These raids were fatal to several religious. Antonio del Santo Cristo de Burgos (Bislig, 1754), Antonio del Santo Cristo del Desamparo (Tandag, 1755), Esteban de San José (Bislig, 1766) and José de Santa Teresa (Surigao, 1770) lost their lives in the Moro raids. José Andrés de la Santísima Trinidad (Gigaquit, 1753), Rodrigo de los Dolores (Surigao, 1755), José de San Joaquín in Butuan (1769) fell into the hands of the Moros. Occasioned by “a great number of fatigues, jolts and terror, many others became insane.” The fate of the Christian faithful was even more tragic. Many were able to flee to Leyte. Other sought refuge in the mountain fastness. However, almost all of them found their harvests and houses gone. A good number of the natives lost their

A Short History of the Church in Caraga Antigua 173 health, freedom and even their lives. It was the lot in life of a majority of the captives to toil in the ricefields of their masters. Others ended up in Borneo and Java, where they were sold to the Dutch or exchanged for weapons and ammunitions. The women usually went to the seraglios in Jolo and Mindanao. The towns of Caraga and Baganga disappeared from the face of the earth and others were converted into wretched villages of 30, 40 or 50 families, without amenities of any kind. On 7 July 1793, the Recollect provincial bewailed in a letter to the Recollect superior general the fact “that the Moros had demolished all the houses of Iligan and Caraga provinces without any exception, and we were found living in the greatest want of protection.” The dispersion of the population multiplied their tasks and decimated their fruits. On the one hand, the ministers were constrained to wander in endless movement, and on the other, it was the best stimulus for the natives to return to their ancient pagan way of life and for the growth of syncretism. Far from the minister and the strict socio-religious set-up of the community, and in constant contact with the non-believers and at times with the Moros, the Christian believers’ religious life of the remontados was exposed to serious snares. They formed a hybrid mixture of Christian ideas and pagan practices. A number of them were born, lived and died without the aid of the religion. The missionaries exerted their effort to stop these evils. Once in a while they went deeper into the fields and climbed mountains. Their visits, however, were too sporadic and they could not reach out to all the fugitives. The ministers administered baptism, solemnized marriages, and encouraged them to live Christian life. Moreover, they had very little time for a more profound and systematic catechetical instruction. The Christian life of a group customarily remained at the mercy of the excellent preparation and zeal of a pious person who fortunately was not lacking. Added to these hardships was the dearth of ministers. In mid-1784 Caraga had solely two religious who were laden with maladies. “Valero de San Agustín, 53 years old and 26 in parochial administration, who was attacked with some sudden illness and had received the extreme unction,” who served Tandag with its four visitas, namely, Calagdan, Bayuyo, Cantulinan and Lianga. José de Santa Teresa, “forty-one years old and thirteen in parish administration, always attacked by sudden ailment and continuously vomiting blood,” administered Cateel and its visitas of Hinatuan and Baganga. Surigao and Butuan, with three and six visitas, respectively, had no priests. Between 1786 and 1797 the situation improved. And in subsequent years Father José de Santa Orosia (17?-1807), perhaps the greatest Recollect missionary of the 18th century, founded the mission territory of San Juan in Cape Bakulín and restored Caraga and Baganga (1802) with 2,000 Mandayas in adjoining areas.

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Doctrinas and population of Caraga, 1655-1776 Doctrinas/Visitas Population Years 1655 1750 1776 Tandag 700 1,030 Cantilan 700 2,200 Tago 900 600 Marihatag 140 Lianga 350 Total population 2,300 4,320 2,000 Siargao 2,000 Sapao 635 Cabuntog 850 Cacub 600 Bacuag Gigaquit 800 700 Bolor Surigao 500 Pahuntungan 800 Dinagat 600 Total population 2,800 4,685 3,495 Butuan 1,500 650 Jabonga 600 Amongan Arwayan Linao 1,600 280 Hibong 240 Odyongang Mainit 610 Talacogon 250 Total population 3,100 2,630 3,285 Bislig 250 Hinatuan 450

A Short History of the Church in Caraga Antigua 175

Cateel 1,000 Baganga 450 Total population 2,150 1,900 2,100 Total 10,200 14,530 10,880

Recovery and progress The 19th century was more complex and prosperous. Caraga overcame the most anxiety-filled period of its history. It came out of isolation and undertook a phase of a clear demographic, social and religious development. But the 19th century was not a homogeneous unity. Rather, three well- differentiated phases can be singled out in them. The first phase comprised the first thirty-three years of the century—from 1800 to 1833—and was characterized by the Recollects’ gradual withdrawal which was completed in December 1815 when the last two Recollects of the period died in Cantilan and Butuan. With their demise, the Recollects disappeared from the area and were replaced by the secular clergy from the Diocese of Cebu. The first was a Spanish mestizo named Agustín D. Then came Yamson (Surigao), Juan Ignacio Galán (Tandag), Santos de Santa Juliana (Bislig). Others retraced their footsteps. The second phase lasted thirty years from 1833 to 1861, and it was more fruitful. It commenced in 1832 with the return of the Recollects, who urged by the bishop of Cebu and the colonial government, began to take charge of the administration of the parishes once more. In 1834 there were Recollects in Butuan, Surigao, Cantilan and Bislig, and in 1837 they returned to Tandag. For some years they counted on the collaboration of some diocesan priests. Among them were—we should remember—Juan Felipe, Mariano Nepomuceno and Gregorio Enríquez, assistant parish priests of Butuan, Surigao and Bislig, respectively, in 1840. In 1850 Father Mariano was still working in Surigao. During the first years the missionaries limited themselves to recovering what was lost. They strove to attract the remontados in the early years, repair the churches and kumbentos, replace the ornaments, and reorganize the associations and confraternities. Later they started to widen their field of activity. The arrival of new personnel reinforcements year after year allowed the Order to pay greater attention to the needs of the region. And if this attention was not great enough, it was due to the missionaries’ obligations with the new parishes which stemmed from the population growth and advancement and from the agricultural colonization in Zambales, Bohol, Mindoro and, since 1848, in Negros as well. The first fruit of this favorable

176 Ángel Martínez Cuesta, OAR climate was the creation of the parish of Davao (1848), followed by those of Cacub (Carmen) and Gigaquit in 1850, Mainit and Talacogon-Bunawan in 1851, Dinagat in 1855 and Cabuntog in 1861. The reduced population of the old region of Caraga from the territories which in 1849 were separated to form what is today the province of Davao Oriental, in the south, and the provinces of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur, in the north and west, grew remarkably, swelling from 29,090 souls in 1838 to 37,611 in 1850 and to 53,767 in 1864. Even so, such effort turned out to be inadequate to meet the growing needs of the region. The bishop of Cebu bemoaned the spiritual abandonment of the Manobos and the Mandayas in the interior of the island. The government became year after year more aware of the need to reinforce its presence in the island. In November 1857 Romualdo Jimeno, bishop of Cebu, wrote a letter to Madrid requesting that “naturally” the Jesuits take charge of the “spiritual direction, civilization and catechization of the part of the Island of Mindanao that comprises the districts of Bislig, Davao, Pollok, the province of Zamboanga, Basilan Island and others located east and south of that island.” Surigao and Misamis could continue in the hands of the Recollects. But in Madrid, because of still unearthed reasons, they completely left the Recollects out. A royal order of 30 July 1860 the government created the politico-military government of Mindanao and entrusted to the Jesuits “the spiritual part of island, replacing with individuals of [the Society] the existing curacies when personnel were available and in a manner deemed convenient.” With such royal order the third phase of the century began. It was characterized by a gradual substitution of the Recollects by the Jesuits, by the establishment of new centers of evangelization and by the reduction of large groups of non-believers in the interior regions and along the eastern shores of old Caraga. The replacements commenced in 1868 with the cession of the parish of Davao to the Jesuits. In its wake followed the cession of Surigao (1871), Gigaquit (1873), Bislig (1873), Butuan (1875), Talacogon-Bunawan (1875), Mainit (1875), Dinagat (1877), Cantilan (1879), Cacub (1882), Cabuntog (1883), Tandag (1884) and Lianga (1884). The Recollects and Jesuits had opposing views. The former felt unjustly dispossessed of some missions they loved as the “apple of their eyes,” while the latter came with new ideas, new methods and the unconditional government support reflected in the financial generosity never been witnessed in the archipelago. The Jesuits traversed the territory, resettling the inhabitants in numerous communities and giving life to new missions: Sigaboy (1870),

A Short History of the Church in Caraga Antigua 177

Placer-Taganaan (1873), Caraga (1876)—where for two years (1876-78) the historian Pablo Pastells worked—, Baganga, Jativa, Veruela (1893), Esperanza (1893), (1895), Mati (1897), Manay (1897). At the onset of 1899, forty-nine Jesuits worked in the old territory of Caraga, divided into three provinces then. They were distributed among the residences of Mati (11), Surigao (13) and Butuan (15). The Mati residence kept eight religious working in Caraga, Baganga and Manay. The residence of Surigao likewise had Jesuits who served Tandag (3), Bislig (3) and Lianga (2), while that of Butuan had twelve working in Esperanza, Prosperidad, Talacogon, Veruela, Jativa and Mainit. In 1896 the Jesuits handed over to a group of Benedictines, who had just arrived from Spain, the parishes of Taganaan-Placer, Gigaquit, Cabuntog and Numancia. In the following year Dinagat and Cantilan were ceded as well. Despite the adverse juridical circumstances which coerced the Recollects to withdraw when there were available Jesuits, the missionaries continued attending to their parishes and readily administered the parishes of Numancia and Cabuntog-Dapa, which had been erected year before but still had no priests, and even breathed life into the curacy of Lianga (1879). The Revolution, 1898-1901 The Revolution reached the region of Caraga late and without the anticlerical burden that accompanied it in Luzon. Neither Rizal nor the Katipunan nor other advocates of independence found any echo in Caraga. Up to the beginning of January 1899 the progress of religious life continued with relative normalcy. In February 1897, the parish priest of Tandag was still talking of “Augustan peace” that reigned in the pueblo. Solely the escape of 300 convicted criminals from the jail in Marawi seemed to disturb the tranquility of the towns. Even so, there were “revolutionaries” in their areas, and the religious—who were always in contact with their superiors in Manila—followed with apprehension the events that were transforming the political map of the archipelago, even as they were aware that it would not take long for these events to affect their lives. In October 1898, a group of religious met in Butuan to thresh out opportune ways to be adapted. On 22 December, the Spanish commander of Butuan handed over the reins of government to the gobernadorcillo of the town, and the Spaniards two days after abandoned the provincial cabecera. But the missionaries continued to move around freely. The transfer of the reins of government was done in a peaceful atmosphere with nary a trace of anticlerical violence. In Butuan, the Spanish flag was lowered and the papal flag was raised.

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The situation worsened with the arrival in Surigao of the brothers Simon and Wenceslao Gonzalez (12 January 1899) with orders from Aguinaldo to lead the revolution in the province and arrest the missionaries. As soon as they took possession of the government, the González brothers spread out to the other towns. At once they imposed their law, arrested the missionaries and seized church properties. Almost forty Recollect ministers were under house arrest in the kumbentos of Butuan (11) and Surigao (27), where, however, they continued to enjoy some kind of freedom. The missionaries in Tandag and those in the southern pueblos of the province under the control of Prudencio García remained scot-free in their curacies. In the wake of the rebellion of Prudencio García on 25 March 1899 and the subsequent killing of the González brothers at the beach of Cortes, all the ministers regained their freedom. The leaders granted the religious missionaries full freedom of movement. But the political instability, unrelentingly threatened by Aguinaldo’s followers, and the social upheaval forced the superiors to call them back to Manila. The missionaries in Surigao left on 18 April and a week after those in Butuan followed suit. Father Fernando Diego (Butuan) and Father Bernardino Llobera (Surigao) were the only ministers who stayed behind in their respective areas. With the help of some secular priests, the two Recollects continued attending to the parishioners amid countless limitations. In May 1900, Father Llobera took the place of Father Diego in Butuan, who traveled to Manila at once. By that time, the situation was getting crystal-clear. In March 1900 the Americans had entered Surigao and the pueblos clamored for the missionaries’ return. On 1 October 1899 the principales of Caraga signed one such petition; they were followed by those of Mati (1 November 1899), Baganga (20 November 1899), Surigao (28 March 1900), Butuan (28 March 1900) and Hinatuan (6 May 1900). The principales of Cortes, Tandag, Tago, Tigao and La Paz petitioned the ministers’ return on 12 August 1900. In January 1900, the first group of Augustinian Recollect priests returned to Mindanao to survey the situation of the land. Dapitan and Zamboanga (28 March 1900) were their first destination. In July they arrived at Caraga and Cateel, and in October they reached Davao, from where they traveled to the whole province of Davao Oriental and the coastal areas of Surigao del Sur. They found everything in a shambles: “Except for Sigaboy,” wrote the Davao missionary on 1 January 1901, “in all other communities I found no churches nor houses […] Everything had fallen. […] O, Father! All that which was just starting then had to be abandoned.” But the people welcomed them back with open arms and approached them en masse in order to have their marriages properly solemnized and their children baptized. On 1 August 1900, Father Raymundo Peruga in Santa Filomena (Cateel) wrote a letter to Manila

A Short History of the Church in Caraga Antigua 179 requesting religious for Tandag, Lianga and Bislig. Two months after, Father Salvador Buguñá, Father Matías Roure and Brother Francisco Mompó were on their way to Caraga. From a missionary church to a diocesan church With those missionaries the reorganization of Christian life in the province began, but unfortunately the pace was sluggish. The hardships increased, and their strength was no longer the same as in the previous century. There was a dearth of priests and economic resources, and in many pueblos the intrigues and tricks posed by town authorities were more than enough. In 1902 a small group of Benedictines took charge of the present-day provinces of Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte. But they were not able to reach all the towns. Some parishes still had no ministers and their absence was taken over by priests from the Visayas, who very often turned out to be followers of Bishop Gregorio Aglipay. There were many court litigations on the ownership of cemeteries, churches and kumbentos. The education of the youth, albeit officially impartial, oftentimes fell into the hands of teachers who were hostile to the Catholic religion. The dearth of priests, ignorance of Christian doctrine and disoriented nationalism opened the gates to Aglipayanism or Iglesia Filipina Independiente, most especially in the initial years when it could count on several prominent people in the towns and with the hands-off policy of the government in the Catholic-Aglipayan conflict over the ownership of church edifices. Until 1906 the right of the occupant was recognized without taking into account any other kind of title. Since that year when the Supreme Court recognized the right of the Roman Catholic Church, Aglipayanism lost its strength and entered a negative phase where it is still immersed. While 19% of the population of Surigao declared Protestantism as their religion, in 1948 it dipped to 13.1% and in 1960 it slid down further to 11.7%. The decrease was significant, but lower than the national average. In 1918 Surigao occupied the 19th place in the classification as to the percentage of Aglipayan adherents by province; it rose to 8th place in 1960. Occupying prominent places were Ilocos Norte, Zambales, Antique, Misamis Occidental, Romblon, Tarlac and Isabela. In this recovery the determining factors, aside from internal ones within Aglipayanism, the Supreme Court verdict and Catholic immigration, were the Sacred Heart missionaries [MSC] who since their arrival in Surigao in 1908 gave a new impetus to education. In Surigao del Sur, they reorganized the catechesis, propagated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and created new parishes: Hinatuan (1908), Tago (1913), Lanuza-Carmen (1913), Carrascal (1914), Marihatag (1914), Madrid (1915), San Agustin (1921),

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Lingig (1937), Tigao (1941), Manganoy (1952), Aras-Asan (1962). Their successors founded the parishes of Diatagon (1965), Barobo (1975), Tagbina (1976), San Miguel (1995) and Carmen (1997). Initially, there were only eight religious distributed in four pairs, who fixed their residence in Surigao, Gigaquit, Cantilan and Hinatuan. Surigao was responsible for Dinagat Island; Gigaquit, for Taganaan and Placer; Cantilan, for Siargao Island; and Hinatuan, for Lianga. A minister of Surigao was at once transferred to Tandag. But it did not take long for MSC missionaries to increase their number until they settled down with forty religious. In 1966 they were thirty-nine. The SVD missionaries arrived not long after to take charge of Dinagat Island. Finally, came the Maryknoll priests who still administer the parishes of Lanuza and Tigao-Burgos. Women religious likewise work hand- in-hand with them. Presently, the diocese is served by the Missionary Sisters of Mary, founded in 1958 by Msgr. Carlos van den Ouwelant; Saint Paul de Chartres Sisters and the Dominican Sisters of the Trinity manage schools in Diatagon, Cantilan and Aras-Asan. For almost the entire century the region continued depending on foreign religious. In 1939 the whole region became part of the new Diocese of Surigao where in 1961 only Bacuag and had each a diocesan parish priest. The thirty-three parishes were administered by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Majority of the officials of the curia and six of the eight existing parochial vicars belonged to this congregation as well. In 1966 the diocesan priests were six, and in 1976—on the eve of the creation of the Diocese of Tandag—they supervised fourteen parishes. With the creation of the new diocese, the participation of the diocesan clergy grew. In 1981 sixteen of the nineteen parishes were managed by them. In 2003 only two Columban priests remained in the diocese.