Acequia

“ The cathedral served as parish church to the inhabitants: one Dominican and one Franciscan monastery, besides a poverty-stricken nunnery, supplied the religious requirements of the diocesan city. No Jesuits there! quoth Gage, with a little rancour. Those good men seldom leave rich and opulent towns; and when you learn the fact that there are no Jesuits at Chiapa, you may draw the immediate inference that the town is poor, and the inhabitants not liberally disposed. ”

“ About the middle of the century the tribunal enjoyed canonries in Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapa, Yucatan, Guatemala, Mechoacan, Guadalajara and Manila. In Mexico the sees of Guadiana, Honduras and Nicaragua, and in the Philippines those of Cebu, Cagayan and Nueva Segovia were too poor, some of them not even having prebendaries, and the bishops were supported by the treasury.—Medina, p. ”

“ As a result of this, says Professor Altamira, “the Spanish clergy considered itself more closely bound to the king than to the pope, ... more dependent on the court than on the curia, ... more eager for the privileges of the crown than for the rights of the church, ... the bishops were obliged to obey the monarch more than the archbishop.” (Altamira y Crevea, História, III, 418–19.)
The laws of the royal patronage centralized the supervision and control of the clergy of the Philippines in the person of the governor of the Islands. ”

“ Battered old churches and convents on a great scale, and of a grand architecture, now for the most part devoted to other purposes, are extraordinarily frequent. Before the sequestration of Church property—in the war called of the Reform, under Juarez, in 1859—Mexico was well-nigh one great ecclesiastical estate. ”

“ The regular clergy, monks and friars, are subordinate to provincials elected for comparatively short terms of office by members of their own order. The Jesuits form a group by themselves but belong rather to the regular than the secular.
Over three hundred years after the conversion of the Filipinos, the Spanish monks and friars considered it still unsafe to admit natives into the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The secular clergy were mostly natives, the regular clergy were Spaniards. ”

“ When the persons in authority found it impossible to withstand the tide of popular feeling, the formation of a Junta was proposed, and the first thought of the people was, that the parochial clergy and the heads of the convents should assemble to choose the members, so little did they think of exercising any right of election themselves, and so naturally did they look up to those by whom they were wont to be directed. ”

“ To our viceroy of Nueva España, or the person or persons who shall, for the time being, be exercising the government of that country: As you know, the right of the ecclesiastical patronage belongs to us throughout the realm of the Yndias—both because of having discovered and acquired that new world, and erected there and endowed the churches and monasteries at our own cost, or at the cost of our ancestors, the Catholic Sovereigns ”

“ The ecclesiastical authority is exercised in accordance with the national constitution, which states that Roman Catholicism is the established religion, freedom of worship being permitted to non-Catholics. The church territory is divided into nine dioceses: the archbishopric of Lima, and the bishoprics of Trujillo, Chachapoyas, Huaraz, Huánuco, Ayacucho, Cuzco, Puno, and Arequipa. ”

“ Such is the way in which the Catholic religion is understood in South America.
In all the ex-Spanish colonies members of the clergy swarm, and we are not afraid of being taxed with exaggeration when we assert that in Chili they form at least one-fourth of the population. Now, the clergy are composed of an infinite number of monks and nuns of every possible form, species, and colour, Franciscans, Benedictines, Genovevans, Barefooted Carmelites, Brothers of Mercy, Augustines, and many others whose names have escaped us. ”

“ Wherefore, in accordance with the preëminence of this apostolic see in the regions of the earth, all and singular, as required by necessity and other reasonable motives, we plant new episcopal sees and churches, that by new plantations may be increased the new adhesion of peoples to the church militant; that everywhere may arise, spread, and flourish the profession of the Christian religion and the Catholic faith ”

“ The difference between a mission and a chapel is oftentimes not understood, even by writers well informed upon other subjects. A Mission was what might be termed the parent church, while the Chapel was an auxiliary or branch establishment.
The little mission chapel, or asistencia, of San Antonio de Padua de Pala, has been an increasing object of interest ever since the Palatingua, or Warner's Ranch, Indians, came and settled here, when they were removed from their time-immemorial home, by order of the Supreme Court of California, affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. ”

“ In monasteries, whether the houses of men or of women, with which the care of the souls of secular persons is connected, all persons—excepting those who belong to their monasteries, or who are servants of those places—both secular and religious, who exercise that care after this manner, shall be immediately subject in those things which pertain to the said care and administration of sacraments, to the jurisdiction, visit, and correction of the bishop in whose diocese they are located. ”

“ We order our viceroys of Nueva España to give license for the preaching of the holy gospel, the conversion and instruction of the natives, and for everything else that is usual, to the discalced Carmelite religious whom their order shall send from Méjico for that purpose to the Filipinas Islands, Nuevo-Méjico, and other parts; and in order that those religious may be encouraged and incited to serve our Lord in that apostolic labor, the viceroys shall protect and aid them as far as possible. ”

“ Stripped of their power by the enactments of 1857, the number of churches reduced to just enough to provide for the actual needs of the people, forbidden themselves to wear their priestly robes in the street, or to fill the air with the perpetual clamor of clanging bells, the clergy of Mexico have held a very painful position. Although we recognize the justness and necessity of the laws of reform, yet we cannot but pity those men in holy office when the thunderbolt fell, who now suffer for the sins of their predecessors. ”

“ Geronimo, who are all great proprietors in the Peninsula, and hold there, with immense estates, all the privileges of temporal jurisdiction. The only Orders established in New Spain are the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Augustins, the Unshod Carmelites, and the Mercedarians, all of whom are prevented by the rules of their institutions from holding lordships with seigneurial rights, or acquiring property to any great extent; and consequently are much better calculated to become useful members of a Christian community. ”

“ Mexico and practically the whole of North and South America were brought under Spanish rule, 8 and the various Catholic orders—Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites—dotted the countries over with churches, monasteries and convents that are today the marvel and joy of the architect, antiquarian and historian. ”

“ Thus, the Abbess of the Cistercian Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de las Huelgas, near Burgos, in Spain, was, by the terms of her official protocol, a "noble lady, the superior, prelate, and lawful administratrix in spirituals and temporals of the said royal abbey, and of all the convents, churches, and hermitages of its filiation, of the villages and places under its jurisdiction, seigniory, and vassalage, in virtue of Bulls and Apostolical concessions, with plenary jurisdiction, privative, quasi-episcopal, nullius diæcsis." ”

“ She is very careful that not only those of her household (who are many) but all of the village—which is one of the largest in the province of Nueva Segovia—should carefully observe the law of God and hear and learn the Catholic doctrine. ”

“ Our land is divided into dioceses, and every diocese into parishes; and while these divisions are recognised by law, and their limits annually defined and continually retraced, so that every man may always be assigned to his own; it is a recognised principle, that the bishop is put in charge of the whole population of his diocese, and that under him the priests have the care of all within their several parishes. ”

“ We have reason to believe that the religious system of the mound builders, like that of the Aztecs, exercised among them a great if not controlling influence. Their government may have been, for aught we know, a government of priesthood; one in which the priestly and civil functions were jointly exercised, and one sufficiently powerful to have secured in the Mississippi valley, as it did in Mexico, the erection of many of those vast monuments which for ages will [Pg 24] continue to challenge the wonder of men. ”

“ The Methodists, our modern ecclesiastical sharp-shooters, did not seem as live and aggressive, as they usually do elsewhere; but we were told they were a great and growing power on the Coast, for all that, and everybody bade them God speed. The Episcopalians, as a rule, I regret to say, appeared to make but little impression, and were perhaps unfortunate in their chief official. The Catholics, embracing most of the old Spanish population and much of the foreign element, were vigorous and aggressive, and made no concealment of the fact, that they were aiming at supremacy. ”

“ Many new convents were admitted at this chapter, both in Pangasinan and Nueva Segovia; for the duties of the ministry in these regions were constantly increasing, and the religious kept constantly reaching out to new places. Many excellent ordinances were passed for the exercise of the ministry to the Indians, and also for the better maintenance of the rules affecting us—especially in the matter of showing ourselves disinterested, and careful not to annoy the Indians. ”

“ Therefore we strictly charge the diocesan prelates, and those superiors of the religious orders, and we order our viceroys, presidents, audiencias, and governors, that in the nominations, presentations, and appointments that they shall have to [22] make there, as is said, in conformity [with this decree] , they shall always prefer, in the first place, those who shall have been occupied, by life and example, in the conversion of the Indians, and in instruction and in administering the sacraments, and those who shall know the language of the Indians whom they have to instruct ”

“ Therefore, since it is advisable to preserve peace here, will your Majesty be pleased to order the supreme tribunal of the Inquisition to order the tribunal of Mexico to appoint, as commissaries, not friars but seculars, since there are so many seculars who are able to act in that capacity, and since it is an office that properly belongs to the ecclesiastical estate. Affairs will then run more smoothly, and there will be more harmony ”

“ It would seem, however, that, in addition to the villagers, there were others at that time living dispersed, whose reduction to Pueblos was determined upon and made the subject of a decree by Charles V. of Spain, in 1546, in order chiefly, as declared, to their being instructed in the Catholic faith. Under the Spanish government, schools were established at the villages; the Christian religion was introduced, and impressed upon the people, and the rights of property thoroughly protected. ”

“ But, the hopes which We had, the hopes which encouraged almost all the people of Ecuador, have perished miserably. In fact, not only has no reparation been made for previous destructive injustices, but other very serious injustices have been added to them. We see that a diocese which was constituted according to the holy canons has been abolished. We know that bishops have been appointed to vacant dioceses, without any privilege from the Holy See. We also know that the sanctity of Christian marriage has been impeded in various ways. ”

“ Not only in these new provinces where the dawn of the gospel’s light now begins to shine do extraordinary cases happen like those which have been mentioned, to the great glory of God and the joy of his ministers; but they also occur in many others where the dawn has risen high but has not yet bathed all the horizon, though it is covering it, little by little. From the province of Nueva Segovia father Fray Geronimo de Zamora,47 a native of the city of Zaragoça, wrote me a letter dated February 25, 1633. ”

“ The bench of the clergy was to be composed of twenty-five archbishops and bishops, that of the nobles of twenty-five peers, who should be called Grandees of the Cortes: the bench of the People of sixty-two deputies for the provinces of Spain and the Indies, thirty deputies for the principal cities of Spain and the adjacent islands, fifteen commercial members, and fifteen deputies of the universities, men of learning, or distinguished by their proficiency in the sciences or the arts. ”

“ Will your Majesty kindly send such a coadjutor for the succor of these islands and the consolation and protection of the clergy, from among the so many virtuous and erudite and moral seculars in that royal court. Should such an archbishop have a bishop in partibus, in order to go to confirm and to visit, your Majesty can very well dispense with the three other bishops of Cibu, Nueva Segovia, and Camarines, for they are in fact of but little use and service in their bishoprics. ”

“ The archbishop resisted. "Touch that, and all is touched." He was right. He touched that, and all was touched. That fell, and all fell. The convent was cut in twain, and the street opened from the plaza to the gates. That was Mexico's first proclamation against Rome. On one side that street to-day you will see parks and dormitories of the convent; on the other, the patio, chapel, and church, with several blocks of private dwellings, two chapels, used for a stable and a blacksmith shop, and the former library, now used as the chapel for American service, and blocks of residences. ”