The Cofradía de San Jose in the longue durée of popular Catholicism

In late October 1841 some 500 members of a pious association of lay Catholics were killed in battle by Spanish forces in the colonial Philippines. When surviving members of the group were questioned as to the purpose of their uprising, they responded, “To pray.” This paper attempts to unpack this statement by placing the Cofradía in the broader history of the Church's response to expressions of popular piety. Under what circumstances are the devotional practices of the laity tolerated by or incorporated into the Church, and under what conditions are they suppressed? Why was the Cofradía's membership determined to pray, up to the point of violent confrontation and death, and what made this desire so threatening to Spanish authorities that the group had to be met with violence? What can this case tell us about the modern relationship between Church and State, or religion and politics?