Padre Damaso

**Padre Damaso** was the former town curate of San Diego and the real father of Maria Clara. Opposing his daughter's marriage to Crisostomo Ibarra, the man made efforts to drive the two apart for Maria Clara's sake.

## History

### Early Life

Padre Damaso became a Franciscan priest in the Philippines sometime in 1858, serving for three years at a small town. As he left, and the natives gave tribute to him as a goodbye, though he learned that the natives had given an even bigger tribute to his successor when he left despite serving a shorter time there.

As part of his reassignment, Damaso became town curate of San Diego. While there, he became close friends with Capitan Tiago and Don Rafael. He also became the confessor of Capitan Tiago's wife, Doña Pia Alba.

Doña Pia later became pregnant with Damaso's child, and the two exchanged letters during this time. She eventually birthed a girl, Maria Clara, although dying in childbirth. As the girl was assumed to be Capitan Tiago's daughter, Padre Damaso instead watched over her as her godfather. When Capitan Tiago betrothed Maria Clara to her childhood friend Crisostomo Ibarra, the son of Don Rafael, Padre Damaso silently objected to the decision, wanting a better life for Maria Clara through marrying a Spaniard.

After Don Rafael's death in prison and his subsequent burial in the parish cemetery, Padre Damaso ordered a gravedigger to transfer his body to the Chinese cemetery. With the corpse having gone missing and the governor-general finding out, Padre Damaso, as punishment, was reassigned to another parish. He also, at one point, was attacked by the man Elias, reporting the matter to the authorities.

### For Maria Clara

During the party Capitan Tiago hosted for Ibarra's return, Padre Damaso ignored the young man's greeting and denied ever having been friends with Don Rafael. During the dinner, Padre Damaso further belittled Ibarra's studies abroad, causing him to leave.

Later on, Padre Damaso visited Capitan Tiago and angrily objected to Maria Clara and Ibarra's marriage, to which Capitan Tiago reluctantly agreed. On the day of the town fiesta, he gave a sermon, making vague swipes at Ibarra.

During the celebratory dinner for Ibarra's school, Padre Damaso insulted Don Rafael's memory, causing Ibarra to almost kill him if not for Maria Clara's intervention. He then excommunicated Ibarra as a result. Capitan Tiago later agreed to betroth Maria Clara to Alfonso Linares, Padre Damaso's relative.

Following Ibarra's supposed death, Padre Damaso visited Maria Clara, shocked as she begged to enter the nunnery in order to forget Ibarra. Sometime after, Padre Damaso was assigned to a distant town, although he was found dead in his office the following day.

## Personality and Traits

Padre Damaso was a brash and arrogant individual. Due to the power afforded to him for being a friar, he acted superior to others and was opposed to natives receiving education abroad. This arrogance also came with rudeness, with the man speaking rather roughly, even going so far as to insult the natives of the Philippines at the party of Capitan Tiago, a native himself. Despite all this, he did possess a softer side for his daughter, seeing fit to break apart her marriage to Ibarra in order to ensure a better life for her.

## Trivia

* Padre Damaso is often connected to the character Fray Botod, the titular tritagonist from the story of the same name by Graciano Lopez Jaena; the two possess various similarities, such as being lecherous, fat, and using religion as a tool for oppression.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 6
3. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 60
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 62
5. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 12
6. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 24
7. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 2
8. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 3
9. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 9
10. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 31
11. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 34
12. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 36
13. ↑ *Noli Me Tangere* – Chapter 64