Where did the first Catholic mass take place in the Philippines?

The first Catholic mass in the Philippines is considered to be one of the most historical events in
our country. This historic event marked the birth of Christianity in the Philippines which is still
considered to be the majority of the religion of Filipinos nowadays.
On an Easter Sunday of March 31, 1521, the first Catholic mass in the Philippines was officiated
by Father Pedro Valderama, the only chaplain who joined the expedition of Magellan. There has
been a controversy as to where the first Catholic mass really happened and the two locations
involved are Limasawa and Butuan City. These two places are known to be mistakenly
addressed because many historians believed that Limasawa is the same place as Mazaua which is
now called Butuan.

People have been debating over this issue for hundreds of years but it has finally come to an end
when the National Historical Commission of the Philippines signed Resolution No. 2, s. 2020 on
July 15 July 15, 2020 wherein they affirmed Limasawa as the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday
mass in the Philippines in accordance with the recommendation of the panel of historians.
According to Lacuata (2020), the six-man panel headed by Dr. Resil Mojares, was formed in
November 2018 to put an end on the debate on actual location where the first Catholic mass
happened in the country. They reopened the investigation after receiving requests from various
groups, including the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines in preparation for the 500 th
anniversary of Christianity in our country.

According to the panels who personally went to Limasawa to talk to both sides advocating for
their respective LGUs, the pro-Butuan group used evidences that came from numerous accounts
written by non-eyewitnesses decades after the 1521 Easter Sunday mass, as well as the 1872
monument in Magallanes, Agusan del Norte. In addition, they also said in a statement that the
early writers of Philippine history based their information from the accounts of Gian Battista
Ramusio and Maximilianus Transylvanus for a reason that Pigafetta's original account was not
available to them. On the other hand, the pro-Limasawa groups used the accounts written by
Antonio Pigafetta which is a more reliable source compared to the evidences of the pro-Butuan
group.

After looking deeply through different sources which included the coordinates of Mazaua given
by the eyewitnesses, as well as studies and projects that retraced the Magellan-Elcano expedition
using modern navigational instruments, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines
concluded that the first Easter Sunday mass was held in Limasawa.

References:
Lacuata, R. C. (2020, August 20). Limasawa, not Butuan: Gov’t historians affirm site of 1521
Easter Sunday mass in PH. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved on October 6, 2021 from:
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/20/20/limasawa-not-butuan-govt-historians-affirm-site-
of-1521-easter-sunday-mass-in-ph
National Historical Commission of the Philippines (2020, August 21). Official Position of the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines on the Site of the 1521 Easter Sunday
Mass. Retrieved on October 6, 2021 from: https://nhcp.gov.ph/official-position-of-the-
national-historical-commission-of-the-philippines-on-the-site-of-the-1521-easter-sunday-
mass-2/
Mayol, A. V. & Gabieta, J. (2020, August 21). Limasawa, not Butuan, affirmed as site of first
Mass in PH. Inquirer.Net. Retrieved on October 6, 2021 from:
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1325039/limasawa-not-butuan-affirmed-as-site-of-first-mass-
in-ph