''Padre'' Dámaso Verdolagas is a fictional character in the novel '' Noli Me Tángere''. The novel was written by

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...

, one of the leaders of the Propaganda Movement in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. ''Noli Me Tángere'' (''Touch Me Not'' or "Social Cancer") is a controversial and anticlerical

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

that exposed the abuses committed by the Spanish

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

s (belonging to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

) and the Spanish elite in colonial Philippines during the 19th century. The novel, according to the author, represented the state of Philippine society under Spanish colonial rule. It was intended as a liberal-nationalist wake-up call for the people of the Philippines. While the natives (''indios'') were trained to become secular clergy, Spanish priests in the powerful

religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

s were given preferential treatment in the assignment to parishes.

Character summary

Dámaso Verdolagas, a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Spanish priest, was the former

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

of the town of San Diego. He was an enemy of Don Rafael Ibarra, Crisóstomo Ibarra's father; Don Rafael refuses to conform to the friars' power. After Don Rafael's death in jail, Padre Dámaso ordered his corpse exhumed and transferred to the Chinese cemetery, which he considered was for heathens. He was later revealed to be the biological father of María Clara. María Clara's mother, Doña Pía Alba, and Don Santiago de los Santos had been trying to conceive a child when Padre Dámaso raped Doña Pia. Near the end of the novel, he and María Clara had a dispute about her not marrying Alfonso Linares, and her going to the convent or dying. This broke Padre Dámaso's heart. By the end of the novel, he was transferred to another town to be its curate. He was later found dead due to unknown causes, possibly depression or hypertension.

Legacy

* Padre Dámaso was portrayed in the following films and television series: ** Oscar Keesee - '' Noli Me Tángere'' (1961) ** Subas Herrero in the ABC television series ''Noli Me Tángere'' (1992) ** Cristóbal Gómez - ''

'' (1998) ** Arnell Ignacio - ''Damaso'' (2019) ** Tirso Cruz III - '' Maria Clara at Ibarra'' (2022-2023) ** * "Padre Damaso", a 1990's hit song Filipino heavy metal band Warlak, appears on various compilation albums such as ''The Tone Def Collection Volume 1'' released in 1997, refers to corrupt religious leaders who use the name of God for their personal gain. * The Tagalog term "''anak ni Padre Dámaso''" ("child of Father Dámaso") has become a stereotype or cliché in the Philippines to refer to a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

or half-white ( Spanish: ''mestizo'') child whose father is unknown. It can also refer to a child whose father was (or who was suspected to be) a Spanish clergyman. The term also became a reference to any corrupt religious leader in the Philippines, especially among the Roman Catholic clergy. * Filipino tour guide and cultural activist Carlos Celdran was arrested for shouting and bearing a sign with the word "Dámaso" at the

Manila Cathedral The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, commonly known as the Manila Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic basilica and cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Manila. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary of ...

during an ecumenical service, to protest the bishops' stance against abortion and contraception on September 30, 2010.

References

Fictional Spanish people Fictional Christian priests Noli Me Tangere (novel) characters Literary characters introduced in 1887 {{novel-char-stub