Scholastics of the Pre-1945 Manila Observatory

Scholastics founded the Manila Observatory (MO). MO was one of the institutions to which a scholastic could be missioned. Their only preparation was their formation in the early years in the Society. Scholastics came from various Provinces. Assignment to MO meant a long and difficult sea journey from the sending Province to the Philippines, and back. Some scholastics teaching at Ateneo worked part-time at MO until MO moved to Padre Faura in 1887. For some, Observatory activities was a phase in their formation process. For others, it was the initiation into a lifelong scientific apostolate. The Table below lists, in chronological order, the scholastics that could be identified.

The notes below give the activities and achievements of some of the scholastics. The post-Observatory activities, mainly of those who did not return to MO, are also included. That there is no write-up of the other scholastics does not mean that their contributions were not important or significant. The work and achievements of those who returned as priests are not within the scope of this essay.

In 1865 Jaime Nonell correlated the passage of a typhoon with the atmospheric pressure data gathered by Francisco Colina with homemade instruments. Colina was his fellow member of the physics department of the Ateneo in Intramuros. To have timely warning of approaching typhoons, Manila citizens asked the Superior to let the scholastics continue their observations and publish them. They even supplied the funds to buy needed instruments. Nonell became an authority on the Spiritual Exercises. He died in Manresa.

In 1866, Federico Faura arrived. He was given the task of organizing and operating MO. Because of his foundational contributions, he is considered the founder of MO, though the foundation date of MO is accepted as 1865. In 1868 the first Philippine foreign scientific expedition was run entirely by the scholastics Faura, Nonell and Juan Ricart. The "tres celebres celibes" sailed to the Celebes in a British man-o-war. They set up instruments on an island which was in the path of totality of the solar eclipse. Their measurements were published in Rome. After theological and scientific studies in Europe, Faura returned to MO.

Juan Ricart served as Provincial of the Aragon Province for two non-consecutive terms.

In the seven year absence of Faura, the work of observations was carried on by a team from the Ateneo. Some of these, if not all, were scholastics. They are not included in the Table.

John Doyle of the Irish province worked in the geomagnetic and seismic divisions. After studies and ordination in Spain, he returned to MO.

Ricardo Cirera conducted the first geomagnetic survey of the Philippines. In 1893 he wrote the book "El magnetismo terreste en Filipinas". After his return to Spain, he founded the El Ebro Observatory in Roquetes, Tarragona, Spain (1904 to date). He founded the scientific journal, Iberica.

Miguel Saderra-Maso was in charge of the seismological division. In 1895 he published the first book on seismology in the Philippines, "La seismologia en Filipinas." This contained the first Catalog of Philippine earthquakes. He returned to MO after ordination in Spain.

Yachita Tsuchihachi, the first Japanese Jesuit, was received into the Society in China in 1888. Because of his mathematical talents he was sent to MO, to work in the geomagnetic section. He became president of Sophia University. He was well known for his scholarship on Chinese characters.

William "Buck" Stanton was the first American Jesuit in the Philippines. His detailed letters home provided a vivid picture of various aspects of the Philippine culture at the time. He worked in Entomology, a new field for MO. This work was a service to farmers. He also self-studied theology at MO and was the first American Jesuit to be ordained (1902) in the Philippines. He returned to Missouri, his province. He was sent to its mission in British Honduras, Central America. He died a martyr of charity. He had always been regarded as a saintly man.

Robert Brown worked in Entomology. He discovered a genus and eleven species of insects. Some were named after him. He translated into English Fr. Algue's "Ciclones Filipinos (1897)". The revised edition is "Cyclones of the Far East (1904)". He played a principle role in establishing a secondary station in Guam. Since typhoons originate east of the Philippines, the location of Guam was strategic for the early observations of typhoons. Philippine Jesuits wear white soutanes instead of black, because a reluctant Spanish Provincial agreed with the bold suggestion of Mr. Brown. After ordination in England, his Province, he returned to MO. After his recall to England, he became Prefect Apostolic of Zambesi, Africa. Part of this mission is now Uganda.

James McGeary worked in the astronomy section of MO. After his return to Missouri, his province, he founded the Observatory at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1909-55).

Bernard Doucette taught at the Seminary in Vigan, Ilocos Sur before working in the meteorological section in 1925. On his return to the States, he was in MIT, Boston, for meteorological studies. During the Japanese Occupation he was briefly imprisoned at the dreaded Fort Santiago in 1942. When MO reopened in Baguio in 1951, after its total destruction during the Liberation of Manila in 1945, he was one of the three Jesuits composing the staff.

Leo Welch was in the astronomy section of MO. He was sent to MIT, Boston, for meteorological studies. When he returned in 1945, MO was in ruins and no one knew if it would be resurrected. By the time MO reopened in 1951, Welch was committed to other apostolates.

Frank Heyden came to the Ateneo but was transferred to MO for his abilities in the infant radio science. There he provided time signals for the entire country. War was still raging when he finished studies in astronomy in Harvard. Georgetown University borrowed him for some 30 years. He was Director of Georgetown Observatory and Chairman of the Astronomy department of the University. He worked effectively to increase the amount MO received from the U.S. War Damage Claims office. He returned to MO in 1971.

During World War II, Pablo Guzman worked at MO. When the Americans were sent to the prison camps in the University of Santo Tomas campus, Manila and Los Banos, Laguna in 1943, William Repetti entrusted to him the manuscript of his notable "Catalog of Philippine Earthquakes (1589-1899)." Amidst the ruins of Ateneo, Pablo successfully retrieved in 1945 the treasure he had buried. The Catalog was published in 1946.

The nationalities of the scholastics were Spanish, American, Irish, English, Japanese and Filipino. The Provinces that supplied them were Aragon (8), New York (4), Missouri (2), and Japanese, Irish, English with one each. The fields they engaged in were meteorology, seismology, geomagnetism, astronomy and entomology. Those who pursued a lifelong scientific apostolate after working as scholastics in the Manila Observatory were Faura, Doyle, Cirera, Saderra-Maso, Tsuchihachi, Coronas, Brown, Zwack, McGeary, Doucette and Heyden. Faura, Cicera and McGeary founded Observatories. The pioneering spirit of the first scholastics was manifested also in those followed who opened new fields.

That MO was able to fulfill its mission of service to the country and to the church is due to the industry, initiatives and achievements of scholastics.