The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

THE CATHOLIC COUNTER-REFORMATION 453

the American basis, and the correction of those undesirable
conditions that have grown up during the years of Spanish
control, when the church, being itself a part of the body
politic, was injured by the very fact of that too intimate contact. The competition has served a good end for Catholicism,
as it has thus been placed on its mettle in a way it might never
have been without it. The American clergy, I venture to think,
recognize this fully." 3
Among the reforms which had been brought about, one
should mention the reduction of the extortionate rates which
were formerly charged, when priests took advantage of the
superstition and ignorance of the people to rob them in payment of marriages, baptism, burials, etc. As Mr. Huddleston
says, "Protestants have forced a marked reform in the Roman
Catholic Church. We have forced her to put in more energetic
young priests, and they are beginning to make reforms. They
no longer charge large fees for their ceremonies but depend
upon voluntary giving. They have organized Sunday schools
and teach some scripture with their doctrine to the children."
The old priests of the Spanish period have to a great extent
been replaced. In I905 it was reported that there were only
two hundred left, mainly teaching in educational institutions
in Manila. There have come in their places men with up-todate business methods. For example in the Methodist report
for I912 one reads that "Tuguegarao has a new Roman
Catholic Bishop with an able American secretary." 4
While there has been a decided improvement in the administrative efficiency of the Roman Catholic Church, the changes
have not yet gone to the heart of the system or of the people.
There are no signs whatever of a genuine spiritual awakening
outside of the limits of the work under the Belgian priests and
the French sisters. There must be a sweeping campaign
against the multitudes of superstitions which are still encouraged or permitted in order to deceive the people. A few of
these superstitions have already been mentioned in the chapter
on Medical Missions.

' Robertson in Catholic Historical Review, 1917 Vol. 3; p. 387.
'A. L. Snyder in M. E. Report 1915, p. 45.