his article investigates the nature and pattern of the most substantial
change in philippine religious adherence since the religiously
tumultuous period which followed the Revolution. Specifically
it employs some of the methodologies of social geography
to examine at several scales and time intervals between 1918 and
1970 the changing pattern of adherence to the church (later
churches) created by the nationalist or "Aglipayan" religious
movement of the early twentieth century.'
Religious identity is a key to the definition of social groups in
many cultural settings. In the Philippines religious adherence is an
excellent clue to both deep regional cleavages and moderate local
social variation. The tripartite division of Philippine societies into
Christian, Muslim, and localized simple ethnic or "animist" compartments
resulted from modest Islamic proselytization followed
by the establishment of an extensive network of Catholic missions
in the lowlands of Luzon, the Visayas, and the northern fringe of
Mindanao during and after the sixteenth century. The Catholic -
missioncum-parish organization operated as an integral component
of Hispanic rule.