Servant of God Father Francesco Paliola - The Martyr of Mindanao

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Servant of God Padre Francesco Palliola
In Mindanao, where it is famously known for the preservation of Muslim culture and Islam in the country, there was one of episode in the history of our Catholic identity in the Philippines that was overlooked for three centuries, the Evangelization of Mindanao by dedicated missionaries from the Jesuits and the Augustinian Recollects.

One of the most notable in this page in the history of the Catholic faith in the Philippines is the life and martrydom of a Jesuit missionary - Reverend Father Francesco Palliola, SJ.

Father Palliola was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary in Mindanao, Philippines who was martyred for his ministry on Evangelizing the natives. Known for his exemplary life, missionary zeal and miraculous cures through intercessions and veneration of the faithful in Mindanao, a cause for beatification was officially opened for him was recently opened in 2016 led by the Diocese of Dipolog and it was formally closed in September 14, 2017 with the sending of the necessary documents to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome for critical review and study.

His Early Life

Padre Francesco was born into nobility, in the town of Nola in Naples, Italy, on May 10, 1612. Very little was written about his early life yet there were accounts of his life when he entered the Society of Jesus in February 2, 1637 and there he completed his priestly studies and being ordained.  After completing two years, he went on to study Grammar for another two years. One day he heard at the community table, reports from the Indies about the great labor of Jesuits, the need for more workers, and about the many souls lost for lack of workers, and finally, the martyrdom of many. He asked the superiors with all the enthusiasm to be sent East, and set sail for the Philippines, where he arrived in the year 1643.

An illustration of a Jesuit preaching to natives
The Mission in Mindanao

He volunteered to be sent to the island of Mindanao, which was the most challenging field because of its extent, the variety of tribes and religions and to strong presence of Islam, which makes the island’s conversion to Christianity difficult. He arrived in Manila in 1643, in Dapitan in December of 1644 He mastered Visayan and preached in it. Fr. Palliola joined some 40 Jesuits on an expedition to the Philippines. After a trip of over two years, he finally landed in Iligan on January 2, 1644, beginning a mission in Mindanao that would take him to Dipolog, Dapitan and the rest of the Zamboanga Peninsula, spreading the Catholic faith to the locals, including the Lumads.

Padre Francesco was quite successful in his actions. He ministered to the baptized as a loving pastor, so much so that even the non-Christians recognized him as saintly. He established settlements or reductions, to better catechize and serve the people as was the common practice of those days. But there was a powerful native leader named Tampilo, who after being baptized, abandoned the faith and returned to his animistic practices. Through his example and influence, he persuaded others to abandon the Faith. Padre Francesco, seeing that he could not make any progress with this person and his followers, asked that they come to his house, where they could stay for a set time.

The Martyrdom of Fr. Palliola
His Martyrdom 

The apostate took this opportunity to gather a crowd of followers, including women and visited the Padre. Armed to the teeth, the crowd went to the priest’s convento. Tampilo drew a dagger and slit the Padre’s throat while another thrust a spear through his shoulder bone into his heart, killing him instantly. They then went on to desecrate the cross Padre Francesco had, and destroyed; then they went on a rampage and desecrated the church, destroying the religious images and using the chalice and paten for their drinking bouts. Fr. Palliola was martyred at Ponot, now Jose Dalman town, on January 29, 1648. He died at the age of 37.

The other Christians learned of his martyrdom and holy death, and they came for his body and buried it with much honor and venerating him as a martyr of Christ. In Manila a fiesta for all was declared celebrating his martyrdom. He died on 29 January 1648. He was 36 and 11 years of those years he spent in the the Society.

The tomb of Fr. Palliola at present
His Legacy and Veneration

A painting of Fr. Palliola, showing a dagger piercing his throat, remains at the archives of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Together with traditions passed on since his death, and written records of individuals who have been healed after praying to him,  Fr. Palliola's impact on the people of the Zamboanga Peninsula is still felt up to this day.

His grave site, marked by a modest memorial in Jose Dalman (then known as "Ponot"), Zamboanga del Norte is frequently visited by pilgrims who knew his life and sanctity would seek his intercession. His tomb is accessible tomthe faithful which is located near the public market of  the municipality of Jose Dalman. It is said that the fishermen in the area makes panata of stopping by his grave to pray for a good and abundant catch.

(R-L) Bishop Severo Caermare with Fr. Patrick Dalangin and Fr. Leonilo
Dagpin, the duly-appointed carriers of the documents to the Vatican,
with a replica of an 18th century oil painting of Fr. Francesco Palliola.
(Courtesy of CBCP News)
The beginning of his Cause for Sainthood

Work on Fr. Palliola's sainthood has been a collaborative effort involving not just the Diocese of Dipolog but also the Jesuits and the Augustinian Recollects who had worked in the area.
On the eve of the opening of Fr. Palliola's cause, Bishop Beniamino Depalma of the Diocese of Nola also sent a message to his counterpart in Dipolog, expressing their joy and support.

In time for the Dipolog diocese’s Golden Jubilee, the local phase of the path towards the canonization of Father Palliola came to an official close on September 14, 2017. Bishop Severo Caermare, Bishop of Dipolog formally concluded the diocesan phase of the inquiry Padre Palliola's life at the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.

The life of Padre Palliola is filled with much love and dedication to his missionary work. Not only he preached to these people who did not know Christ and helped them in their everyday lives, he also nurtured them with so much care and protected them from the harms brought by thier fellow natives and some Spaniards. With the current situation in some parts of Mindanao were peace is elusive and Christians are persecuted by Muslim extremists, let us ask the intercession of Servant of God Father Francesco Palliola to end these persecutions and peace will finally come in Mindanao.

Before we end this blogpost dedicated to Servant of God, Fr. Francesco Palliola, here is the official prayer released by the Diocese of Dipolog for his Cause for Beatification and Canonization.

Almighty God, You have given your Church true pastors to shepherd Your people into one Rock. You chose Your servant, Francesco Palliola, to go to Mindanao to be such a pastor. At his Masses, he prayed to do all things for your greater glory and to offer to You his whole self so that, should it be granted, he was willing to shed his blood for the Gospel, for the people of the mission he loved. 

 His selfless sacrifice still bears fruits because even after so many centuries, since his oblation, his intercession has been found so efficacious by those who seek his help. Through the prayers of Your servant Francesco, grant the petition we pray for (mention your petitions), or the gift of healing for (mention the person you are praying for).

 And if it be Your will  grant that Padre Francesco's heroic virtues, his witness of courage, and his great love for the people of Mindanao, be more widely known and recognzied. Raise him to the ranks of the Holy Church's blesseds and saints. We make this prayer, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Servant of God Father Francesco Palliola, pray for us!

 *With Ecclesiastical Permission from the Diocesan Curia of Dipolog.

Please report any answered favors and miraculous cures the:

Diocesan Chancery of the Diocese of Dipolog
SVC/Diocese Duplex Building,
Padre Ramon Street, Dipolog City, 7100,
Zamboanga del Norte

References:

"Church opens diocesan process for martyrdom of Fr. Francesco Palliola, SJ". Sun.Star, Retrieved on September 5, 2017 from http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2016/01/08/church-opens-diocesan-process-fr-palliolas-martyrdom-450607.
"Famiglia Palliola", Retrieved on September 10, 2017 from http://www.nobili-napoletani.it/Palliola.htm.
"Francesco Paleola Martyr". Retrieved on September 7, 2017 from http://francescopaleola.blogspot.com/2014_09_01_archive.html.
"Philippines opens sainthood process for Italian Jesuit", Retrieved on September 5, 2017 from http://www.ucanews.com/news/philippines-opens-sainthood-process-for-italian-jesuit/74904.
"Sainthood cause for Mindanao ‘martyr’ moves to Vatican", Retriecved on September 15, 2017 from http://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/sainthood-cause-for-mindanao-martyr-moves-to-vatican/.
"Servant of God Francesco Palliola, SJ: Champion of the Indigenous People - Philippine Jesuits". Retrieved on September 13, 2017 from http://www.phjesuits.org/portal/servant-of-god-francesco-palliola-sj-champion-of-the-indigenous-people/.

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