some time, his Majesty despatched other new decrees to the said viceroy and archbishop, under date of February eighteen and August twenty-five, six hundred and twenty, in which, he again orders them to observe and obey the said first decree to the said archbishop, in these words: “And since your person is authorized, not only by the council of Trent, but by the declaration of the cardinals, and by common law, to proceed to the visit for the reformation of all the missionaries, both seculars and regulars, you shall endeavor to relieve your conscience and mine.”
Consequently, neither of us will by any means satisfy our obligations, if we neglect to carry out the commands of his Holiness and of his Majesty in this regard, so that we may report to his Majesty in the first ships that his royal will has been fulfilled.
From the above, and from the jurisdiction and authority conceded to the bishops over their sheep by the sacred canons, councils, and briefs of the holy apostolic see, it is manifest with what want of reason and foundation has been the assertion and declaration made three or four times by Father Pedro de San Pablo, provincial of the Order of St. Francis, in the royal courts about one month ago, while reporting a suit of the fiscals of the missions of the Indians—namely, that the provincials of the orders of these islands, and the regular ministers of the Yndias, had more jurisdiction and power, by virtue of their privileges, over the Indians in regard to matters concerning the ministry of their missions than had the bishops and archbishops in whose dioceses the said missions are located. That appears to be a universal sentiment and practice of the said religious, by what we have experienced in the course of the visitation to the Indians of our archbishopric that we have as yet made. Given in Manila, March twenty-nine, one thousand six hundred and twenty-two.16
[On April two and three, Don Gabriel de Mújica, the archbishopric’s secretary, delivered in person a similar copy of the above notifications to [each of] the fathers-provincial—namely, Fray Juan Henrríquez, Augustinian; Fray Miguel Ruiz, Dominican; Fray Cristóbal de Santa Ana, commissary visitor of St. Francis. On June 20, the archbishop began his visits through the parish of Dilao, causing an edict of the following tenor to be published from the pulpit during high mass.]
We, Don Fray Diego Garcia Serrano, by the grace of God and the holy apostolic see, archbishop of the Philipinas, member of his Majesty’s council, etc.: To you, the faithful Christians, citizens, dwellers, residents, and inhabitants of the village of Dilao, which is administered by the Order of St. Francis, of whatever state, rank, and preëminence you may be, greeting in our Lord Jesus Christ. We cause you to know that the holy fathers, inspired personally by the Holy Spirit in their sacred councils, piously and rightly ordered and commanded that all the prelates and pastors of the universal Church be obliged, in person or through their visitors, to make annually a general visit and investigation of their subordinates and clergy, both seculars and regulars, who have in charge the administration of souls. This shall include the offices that they hold, in curacies and in churches, hermitages, hospitals, and confraternities, all which should be directed to the spiritual welfare of souls—which consists in being, through the grace of God, our Lord, separated from sins, especially public and disgraceful sins, which offend His [Divine] Majesty so greatly. In order to fulfil this our obligation, we admonish and order that those of you who shall know or who shall have heard anything said concerning the father cura, your minister, who has charge of you in the matter of the administration of sacraments, or of any other person, which cannot or ought not to be tolerated by the citizens and inhabitants of this said village of Dilao, of whatever nation and rank he be, shall tell and declare it to us; especially if he shall have committed what will be mentioned and related to you later in this edict, in whole or in part, or any other thing similar to it. You shall declare and manifest the same before us within the three days first following after this our letter and edict shall be declared and read to you.
First, if you know or have heard said whether the said father cura N., your minister, has been remiss and negligent in the administration of the holy sacraments of baptism, penance, the eucharist, extreme unction, and matrimony.
Item: Whether anyone has died without holy baptism through his neglect and carelessness, or without confession, communion, or extreme unction.
Item: If you know whether the said your minister has not said mass for you on every Sunday or feast that is observed; or whether he has made any signal omission in this; and whether he preaches and teaches the Christian doctrine to you, as he is obliged.
Item: Whether the administration of the holy sacraments takes place with the reverence and propriety that is fitting; whether he has married anyone before daybreak, or without the admonitions ordered by the holy council, or without the notification of our vicars, and their permission having preceded, in the cases in which it ought to be made and asked for; and whether the baptisms that have taken place have been in the baptismal font of the church, with all respect and reverence.
Item: If you know whether the said your minister keeps the tariff of the fees—both those which pertain to him and those that pertain to singers, fiscals, and sacristans—written and placed openly where all may read it, so that they may know what they have to pay; or whether he has forced the natives to give more alms than they owe or are willing to give for marriages, baptisms, or burials, whether in money or in other things.
Item: Whether the said your minister is careful to execute the pious foundations and the wills of his parishioners; or whether these have failed to be observed through his fault.
Item: Whether the said your minister is careful to register his parishioners, both natives and those of other nations, at the time of Lent; and whether he has confessed them during that time, or tried to confess them; and whether he has, after Lent, made any effort to ascertain whether they fulfilled their duties to the church according to their obligation.
Item: If you know whether the said your minister has concealed any public or notorious sin of his parishioners, that has come to his notice, and has not endeavored to have it remedied by the persons who can remedy it.
Item: If you know whether the said your minister has not looked after the property of the church, the silver, and ornaments, and everything belonging to it; and whether any property has been lost by his carelessness and negligence.
Item: If you know whether the said minister, in the public sins that have come to his notice and that he has punished, has condemned the sinners to pecuniary fines, or something of value, such as wax, cloth, or other things; and whether he has failed to apply the said fines to those to whom they belong, in accordance with his Holiness’s brief and his Majesty’s decrees.
Item: If you know whether the fiscals have performed their duty poorly; or whether they live in sin, or are dishonest, or they conceal sins or concubinage; or whether they receive bribes; or whether with their authority as fiscal they have annoyed the Indians, or have taken rice, fowls, or other things at a less price; or whether they have imposed any tax under pretext of alms for the church, by their authority that they possess as ministers of it; or whether they have taken more fees than belong to them by our tariffs.
Item: If you know whether the choristers and sacristans have likewise taken larger fees than are assigned them by our said tariffs, for burials, funeral honors, and other things that belong to them; and whether, when any poor man has died who has not the wherewithal to pay the fees, they have refused to bury him unless they are paid, or unless they receive pledges that they demand before burying him.
Item: If you know whether there are any apostates of our holy Catholic faith; or who practice any evil worship; or who possess or read books of it.
Item: Whether there are any who are living in public concubinage, or as whoremongers; or who keep in their houses slave women, or other women or men of evil life, in order to commit sins.
Item:
The following decree was given by the king prohibiting certain practices of the regulars:
“The King. To the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia of the city of Manila of the Philipinas Islands: I have been informed that the religious who reside in those regions have the custom of assigning at times Indian villages for the celebration of their chapter meetings, from which, besides the annoyances and wrongs that the Indians receive, it happens that the audiencias and governors are unable to apply the remedy for certain things that occur in the said chapter meetings, and that require despatch. And inasmuch as it has been considered that that is a cause for trouble, it has been deemed advisable to prevent it by ordering—as I do order and command by this present—that now and henceforth, chapter meetings of the religious be not celebrated in Indian villages; and that if there be reasons obliging the meeting to be celebrated at any time in any such village, those reasons be communicated to you, both the president and the Audiencia, and that your order and permission be obtained. Such is my will. Given in Valladolid, June thirteen, one thousand six hundred and fifteen.
This decree is translated from Pastells’s Colin,
