About

What Is the Ateneo

Brief Historical Background

When the Society of Jesus set foot on Philippine soil in 1581, they were on a mission: to plant the seeds of Christianity. While primarily missionaries, the Jesuits “were also custodians of the ratio studiorum, the Jesuit (system of) education formulated about 1550. In 1590, they founded one of the first colleges in the Philippines, the Colegio de Manila (also known as the Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio) under the leadership of Fr. Antonio Sedeño, S.J. The school formally opened in 1595.”

The quality of Jesuit education was well known in Europe. Thus “in 1621, Pope Gregory XV, through the Archbishop of Manila, authorized the San Ignacio to confer degrees in Theology and the Arts. Two years later, King Philip IV of Spain confirmed this authorization, making the school a royal and a pontifical university, the very first university in the Philippines and in Asia.”

But dark clouds gathered around the horizon. In the mid-1800’s, “Catholic colonial powers, notably France, Portugal and Spain, had grown hostile to the Society of Jesus. The colonial powers eventually expelled the Society often quite brutally from their realms…Finally, under pressure from Catholic royalty, Pope Clement XIV formally declared the dissolution of the Society of Jesus in 1773.” Only one Catholic Monarch did not obey the Papal Decree: Catherine the Great of Russia, where the Jesuits survived until the Society of Jesus was reinstated in 1814 by Pope Pius VII “after almost seven decades of persecution and over four decades of formal suppression.” The Spanish Jesuits returned to the Philippines in 1859, almost a century after their expulsion.

The returning Jesuits were primarily sent to work in the missions of Mindanao and Jolo. But their reputation as educators never diminished even after almost a century of absence from the Philippines. The Spanish civil authorities made them take over the Escuela Municipal de Manila which eventually became Ateneo Municipal de Manila, the school Jose Rizal, Gregorio del Pilar and many other great Filipino heroes enrolled in. When American rule took over in 1902 when all Spanish colonial territories were ceded to the United States of America at the end of the Spanish-American War, the American Jesuits renamed the school Ateneo de Manila, when it lost government subsidy and became a private school for secondary and college education.

Why the Name ATENEO

“ATENEO” is the Spanish form of the Latin word “ATHENEAUM”. The dictionary of Classical Antiquities defines and explains “ATHENEAUM” thus: “It is the first educational institution at Rome built by  Emperor Hadrian about 135 A.D. There rhetoricians and poets held their recitations, and salaried professors gave their lectures in the various branches of general education, philosophy and rhetoric as well as grammar and jurisprudence (law).”

The Romans descended from the Greek race. Thus the word “ATHENEAUM” is derived from the name of the Greek Goddess of Wisdom “ATHENE (or ATHENA)”. The ancient Greeks named their great city of “ATHENS” after her. “ATHENS” was then the seat of learning, education, philosophy, the arts and sciences and athletic excellence during the Golden Age of Greek civilization. Greece gave birth to Western Civilization as we know it today.

It is no surprise then that the Jesuits would name their first prestigious school in Manila “ATENE0”. In succeeding years, to the north in Tuguegarao, Ilocos Norte, down to Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao in Mindanao, to San Pablo in Batangas and Naga in the Bicol region, and recently in Iloilo in Central Visayas, the Jesuits named their schools ATENEO. Only three other Philippine Jesuit-run schools have different names: Xavier School in Greenhills, San Juan, Rizal; Sacred Heart School in Cebu and Loyola College of Culion in Palawan. Four other small parochial mission schools in Mindanao retain the names of the Saints of their local parishes.

What Is the ATENEO Essence?

To understand the ATENEO and what it stands for, we must comprehend and have some understanding of what the Society of Jesus is all about, how it came into existence.

The Society of Jesus (originally called Compania de Jesus) is founded on the spirituality and apostolic vision of St. Ignatius Loyola, its founder. Ignatius’ time was a critical era in the history of the Catholic Church. Christendom was threatened by heresies and schisms all over Europe. Her very foundations were being shaken by the falling away and disenchantment of thousands of the Catholic Faithful and even some of the Clergy in high places of authority. The Church was mired in religious and monastic scandals.

In time, Ignatius (Iñigo de Loyola, a vain Spanish nobleman and soldier) after a slow and painful process of spiritual conversion, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit attracted, and carefully organized a small band of followers. They were men after his example, men of prayer and self-denial. A few of them were also noblemen just like him who abandoned their nobility and worldly possessions to follow the footsteps of the Master. He also required of them to be men of letters and higher learning, well-versed in the philosophical and theological teachings of the Catholic Church, the Gospel Truths as preached and lived by Jesus Christ.

This small band of followers, such as Francis Xavier (Francisco Javier), Francis Borgia and Peter Favre, lived in common and took the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, with the Blessed Virgin Mary as their Patroness. Their lives were continuously being molded by the “Spiritual Exercises” which Ignatius formulated in a cave at Manresa through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Their lives were lived within the structure of the Constitution of the Society of Jesus as approved by the Holy See.

Their ultimate intent was to be spiritually, morally and physically fit to be put anywhere in the world at the disposal of the Papacy at any time to defend the Faith against its detractors and enemies, to spread the Gospels, to be “All things to all men…for the greater glory of God” in word and deed. The full-fledged Jesuit takes a fourth and final vow: total and unconditional obedience to the Pope. That’s why at one time they were called “The Light Cavalry” of the Papacy. They have to travel light and fast. Time was of the essence in saving souls. Sounds like the “Marines of modern times”, or the “Special Forces” of the Vicar of Christ on earth`.

As such, the Jesuits were primarily missionaries, teachers and educators, and “contemplatives in action”. Genuine, lasting conversion starts in the intellect, in the mind, and in the heart. So in the missions, it was logical that schools must be founded to mold the intellect, the mind and the heart of the converts. Conversion to Christ must be rooted on solid ground and strong convictions – lasting and complete. It must constantly be nourished and renewed with spiritual vigor and enthusiasm to withstand the constant onslaught of crass materialism, carnality and the deceptive satanic forces of evil in the world.

This thrust to influence the minds and hearts of men and women is at the very core of Jesuit education in founding the various ATENEO schools in the Philippines. And for that matter, of other Jesuit institutions of learning worldwide. It is the essence of an Ateneo education. It is up to every Atenean to know it by heart, to assimilate it, to make it his very own, to live it in his daily life as so many others before him did and died for, as countless others are doing today as they try to meet life’s challenges.

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This is the Seal of the Society of Jesus. The “IHS” trigram comprises the first three Greek letters  (JESUS), later interpreted as “Iesus Hominum Salvator” (Jesus Savior of Mankind), “Iesum Habemus Socium” (We have Jesus as Companion) or as “Iesu Humilis Societas” (Humble Society of Jesus).  (Of course there is the Cross and the three nails that pinned Jesus to the Cross – the symbols of Christ‘s sufferings to save mankind through His death and resurrection. Source: Society of Jesus from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in the Internet.)