Los franciscanos y el Hospital Real de los Españoles de Manila, Filipinas (155-191)

Descrizione

During the colonial period, most of the hospitals in the Philippines were founded and run by the Friars Minor. The case of the Royal Hospital in Manila is an exception, since it had come into existence already before the arrival of the friars. Nevertheless, the Franciscans exercised pastoral and medical/nursing ministries in this hospital roughly since their arrival in 1578 until 1704, with major interruptions. Six documents relating to the administration of the hospital, issued between 1594-1691 and transcribed in the appendix, witness to the delicate negotiations between the Franciscan Province of St Gregory and the royal authorities in both Spain and the colony. From these letters also emerges the vain interest of the Hospital Friars of John of God to take over the Royal Hospital, as well as the intervention of the local Poor Clares in favor of the friars serving in the hospital and providing spiritual care for the sisters. The Royal Hospital in Manila gained additional importance to the friars as a training facility for their medical staff in both the Philippines and other East Asian missions.