It was conducted by Father Pedro de Valderrama of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition along the shores of what was referred to in the journals of Antonio Pigafetta as "Mazaua".

Today, this site is widely believed by many historians and the government to be Limasawa off the tip of Southern Leyte,[1][2] However, until at least the 19th century, the prevailing belief was that the first mass was held in Butuan.

[6] When Ferdinand Magellan and where European crew sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda for an expedition to search for spices, these explorers landed on the Philippines after their voyage from other proximate areas.

He was one of the eighteen survivors who returned to Spain aboard the "Victoria" and therefore considered as an eyewitness of the significant events happened on the first mass of which Magellan names it the Islands of Saint Lazarus that is later called the Philippine Archipelago.

Pigafetta narrated on his account the events happened from March 16, 1521, when they first saw the Island of the Philippine group up to April 7, 1521, when the expedition landed on Cebu.

[10][11] On March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday, Magellan ordered a Mass to be celebrated which was officiated by Father Pedro Valderrama, the Andalusian chaplain of the fleet, the only priest then.

[10][12] In the account of Pigafetta, Gomez noticed that he failed to mention some points of the journey where the masses were held, one example is when they were at the port of San Julian.

For further investigation, some points at Pigafetta's account was translated as follows: At dawn on Saturday, March 16, 1521, (feast of St. Lazarus, Gomez inserted) we came upon a highland at a distance... an island named Zamal (Samar)... the following day (March 17, Sunday) the captain general desired to land on another island (Humunu) ...uninhabited... in order to be more secure and to get water and have some rest.

Another passing evidence, a document found concerning the landing of Magellan's fleet in Suluan ''(Homonhon)'' and the treaty with the natives featured in a blog post in 2004.

[10][12] In the Account of Francisco Albo, he did not mention about the first mass in the Philippines but only the planting of the cross upon a mountain top from which could be seen three islands to the west and southwest, where they were told there was much gold.

In 1984 Imelda Marcos had a multi-million pesos Shrine of the First Holy Mass built, an edifice made of steel, bricks and polished concrete, and erected on top of a hill overlooking barangay Magallanes, Limasawa.

[17] Limasawa celebrates the historic and religious coming of the Spaniards every March 31 with a cultural presentation and anniversary program dubbed as Sinugdan, meaning "beginning".

[23][24] A position paper submitted by the chancellor of the Diocese of Borongan to the NHCP stated that the Magellan expedition reached the shores of Homonhon on March 16, 1521, and remained for eight days, which coincided two Sundays and the Holy Week.

[19][25] Historians, however, remained in disagreement whether the such religious celebrations, which were said to have been held as thanksgiving for the expedition's safe passage or to observe the beginning of Holy Week, did occur.

In 1995, Agusan del Norte's 1st congressional district Representative Ching Plaza filed a bill in Congress contesting the Limasawa hypothesis and asserting that the "site of the first mass" was in Butuan.

[3] According to Bernad (2002), the confusion originated on the utot of some of the 17th century historians such as Colin and Combes, often yielding incorrect representation of Magellan's voyage, which ultimately led to the misconception of the first mass being held at Butuan, rather than Limasawa.

Another panel led by prominent historian Resil B. Mojares was formed in 2018 by now National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to further review continued claims in favor of Butuan.

Meanwhile, the pro-Limasawa group provided the panel coordinates of Mazaua given by the eyewitnesses, studies and projects that retraced the Magellan–Elcano expedition using modern navigational instruments, and the copies of Pigafetta's original accounts.

[31][20][2] Ahead of the quincentennial celebration of the Christianization of the Philippines, the NHCP dismissed the Butuan claim due to insufficient evidences to change the government's current position and reaffirmed Limasawa as the site of the first Easter Sunday Mass in the country.

[33][34] The legal move was characterized by Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist John Nery as "dangerous nonsense" and a means to "weaponize the law against historical truth.