(Translated from a copy obtained from the Manila Executive Bureau
Archives)
Your Serene Highness: The undersigned archbishop respectfully addresses
your highness, impelled by a true love of country as well as from a
sense of the duty incumbent upon him of working for the tranquillity
of his archdiocese. Frequently has it been disturbed and altered by
the turning over of the curacies of the secular clergy which some
years since were granted to the friar orders. This has been the cause
of an antagonism between the two branches of the clergy each time
more marked, and is taking a turn which sooner or later can become
untoward for our beloved Spain.
Merely to fix the time of the beginning of this antagonism do I
mention the royal decree of July 8th, 1826, by which there were
restored to the religious communities the curacies in charge of the
secular clergy since the second period of the governorship of Don
Simon de Anda y Salazar. Just as this measure, as the native priests
had those parishes for over half a century and considered them then
theirs, they felt it a great hardship each time when, on the death or
transfer of one of their number, a friar was put in to replace him. On
the death of the parish priest of San Simon, in this present year,
the last of the provisions of said royal order was carried out.
One may cite, as another cause contributing to the growing antagonism,
the royal order of March 9th, 1849, which takes away from the secular
clergy and gives to the friars seven more parishes in Cavite, namely:
Bacoor, Cavite Viejo, and Silang to the Recollect Augustinians;
and Santa Cruz and San Francisco de Malabon, Naic and Indan to the
Dominicans. By reason of their having become vacant five of these
have already been turned over.
But what brought the antagonism to a crisis and filled the native
priesthood with indignation was the royal order of September 10th,
1861, to which and to its results the subscriber has in mind especially
to call the exalted attention of your Highness.
Article 13 of the royal decree of July 30th, 1859 (relative to the
establishment of a government for Mindanao), arranged that the Jesuit
priests should take charge of the parishes and religious duties of
that island then held and attended to by the Recollect Friars of
the Province of San Nicolas de Tolentino. It thus became necessary
to have some workable plan for carrying the arrangement into effect,
and the above mentioned royal order of September 10th was given for
this purpose, besides indemnifying the Recollects by assigning to
their administration curacies in Cavite Province or elsewhere (in
the archdiocese of Manila according to a later provision) which had
been under the native clergy. The circumstances under which this
royal decree was issued deserve careful examination. In the first
place, there was then no archbishop, a condition under which the
sacred canons enjoin and counsel prudence, when no innovation of
any kind shall be introduced; secondly the opinion of the customary
ecclesiastical authority was not asked, though here on matters of
much less importance numerous endorsements are the rule; thirdly,
your Highness is already aware how the priest nominated to the mitre
of Manila knew nothing of the anomalous ecclesiastical administration
nor of the usages and customs (the reason why he would have renounced
such a heavy responsibility and only did accept after strong urging)
and so there had to elapse considerable time before he could learn
enough of the matter to cause him to complain of it. The foregoing
facts are respectfully submitted to Your Highness.
When, toward the close of May, 1862, the writer took possession of his
archbishopric, he found the native clergy extraordinarily excited and
on every hand was urged to request the revocation of the September
10th royal order aforesaid. Unconvinced by petitions and appeals,
rather, then in his heart persuaded that the Supreme Government could
give him good and sufficient reason for taking so serious a step,
the archbishop was disposed to comply as he has complied, cheerfully
and to the letter. If he courteously declined to award the Antipolo
curacy to the Recollects, it was because he understood this was a
request not warranted by the royal order, and he could not have been
far out of the way when the State Council formally upheld his judgment
as appears in the royal order of May 19th where the formula used is
"Having listened to the State Council," one indicating action against
their advice. Moreover now, after long residence in the country, with
some knowledge of the church conditions and of its running and of
affairs and persons, each time I see with greater clearness that the
complaints of the native clergy are not without foundation, that there
ought to be some effort to conform the royal order of September 10th,
1861, to the rules of propriety and equity, and that if one observes
its results, one must conclude that it does not conform entirely to
those of wise policy. Briefly I shall explain these assertions.
The Supreme Government was within its rights in entrusting to the
recognized zeal of the Jesuit Fathers the curacies and missions of
Mindanao, the law on the Royal Patronship in the code of the Indies
authorizing such action. Worthy, too, of praise is it that there should
be recognition of the Recollect Fathers' services and compensation
for the loss of their Mindanao religious establishments, because,
although many of these were founded by the early Jesuit Fathers,
yet the Recollects were then in possession of them and had made them
theirs by right of prescription. But if it had been taken into account
that likewise the native priests' services merited appreciation (for
under unfavorable vicissitudes they have always borne themselves as
faithful subjects of Spain and in the parochial ministry as coadjutors,
theirs is even the hardest part of the charge), then by no means
would so deserving a class have been wronged to reward any other,
and there would have been sought some gentler and equitable way of
carrying out the wishes of the Government. The very diocese of Cebu,
within whose borders at that time belonged the island of Mindanao,
in fact offered no obstacle since it would have been only justice to
have not compensated the Recollects with the parishes of other friars,
for to them had been previously granted all the curacies of the Island
of Negros, which belonged to the native clergy, for want of persons
of that class.
The curacies of the aforesaid diocese were two hundred and
thirty-seven, of which forty-eight belonged to the secular clergy. The
scant resources of Cebu's theological seminary, its lack of professors
and the students' ignorance of the Spanish language, knowledge of
which is indispensable in the study of Latin and moral theology, not
only prevented the preparation of a sufficient number of priests for
the control of the above-mentioned parishes, but also detracted from
the success of those needed as coadjutors to aid the parish priests in
the administration of the sacraments and the care of the sick. That
seminary rightly should be called a college because the natives go
to it for the purpose of learning Spanish, and most of them leave
when they only have half learned the language. Suffice it to say
that there have been, and still are within the former boundaries
of the Bishopric of Cebu towns (not compact but confined to distant
and scattered barriers) seventeen thousand and more souls where the
spiritual administration rests on a single friar priest, usually
advanced in years, too. For this reason it cannot be doubted that its
zealous prelate would have welcomed the assistance of twenty-seven
friars who could have taken charge of that number of parishes, because
manifestly this would have improved the parochial administration,
and still there would have been left him twenty-one curacies with
which to reward those coadjutors who were distinguished among their
scanty number for virtue, learning, and hard work.
Though the Archdiocese of Manila lacked ministers to attend to all
the spiritual necessities of the faithful (for the force scarcely
suffices under normal conditions to respond to the most urgent calls),
nevertheless it formed a striking contrast in this matter to the
Diocese of Cebu.
The Archbishopric had at the time approximately one million four
hundred thousand inhabitants, with one hundred and ninety-one parishes
served by both classes of clergy. Deduct from this number assigned to
the secular clergy those which had to be returned by order of the Royal
Decree of 1826, those which the Royal Order of 1849 commanded to be
given the Recollects and the Dominicans, and the twenty-seven which,
by the order of September 10th, 1861, the parishes and missions they
had had to surrender to the Jesuits in Mindanao, and there are only
twelve left to reward deserving coadjutors. The priests of this class,
comparing them with those of Cebu, are very numerous, for there are
not four cases where coadjutors are not provided on the scale of
one for parishes of 4,000, two for 8,000, three for 12,000, and so
on up to Taal, which has seven coadjutors. But let us continue the
comparison of the two dioceses.
Though the diocese of Cebu has few who understand the Spanish
language, there are many in Manila and adjacent provinces who speak
it; and in contrast to the limited facilities of the Cebu seminary,
the archdiocese has the University of Sto. Tomas and the colleges
of San Juan de Letran and of San José, where numerous students
are studying Latin, philosophy, theology and the sacred canons. Nor
should one omit the seminary of San Carlos in spite of the fact that,
because of difficulties elsewhere enumerated, it is not of a standard
commensurate with the importance of the capital of the Philippine
Archipelago, a land conquered and held by Spain primarily for religious
reasons. Do not the foregoing facts prove that the losses suffered
by the Recollects should be compensated with curacies in the diocese
of Cebu, and not with those of Manila?
The spirit inspiring the Royal Order of September 10th, 1861, seems
no more in conformity with policy and equity, when the native priests
compare the missions and curacies relinquished by the Recollects
with those they received in exchange in this Archbishopric. If Your
Highness will have the goodness to glance over the accompanying table,
perhaps you may agree with them and also may observe, as they do,
that if to the term "indemnization" (which should only mean making
good the actual loss) there is to be given the broader meaning that
the present result suggests, then there will be many who will want to
be damaged in order to get back ten-fold the value of what they lose.
It is worthy of especial note that, despite the Antipolo parish having
few parishioners, such is the devotion on the part of the towns toward
the image of the Virgin venerated there, so great are the crowds who
from even more remote provinces during the month of May repair to
this celebrated shrine, and so many and so large are the largesses
for masses ordered that this is considered the pearl of the curacies,
one of the fattest parishes in all the Archipelago. So it is not
at all to be wondered at that the secular clergy have especially
regretted its loss, and there is good reason for asserting that the
Royal Order of May 19th, 1864, is far from harmonizing with the order
of September 10th, 1861.
Besides the facts above set forth, which have created and continued
antagonism and animosity between the secular and regular clergy, it
is necessary to add another for your Highness' better understanding
of the discontent of the native priests.
To fill a vacancy in the curacy of San Rafael, Bulacan Province,
occasioned by the death of its parish priest, seventy days' notice was
given of a competition, the time expiring February 17th, 1868. The
examinations were held in the manner prescribed by Pope Benedict
XIV on the 21, 22 and 23rd, and seventeen candidates presented
themselves. Their papers were already graded and the highest three
eligibles selected to be certified to the Vice Royal Patron on March
2nd, but the day previous the Diocesan prelate received a communication
from him transmitting a brief by the Provincial of the Augustinian
arguing that the said curacy should be adjudged theirs.
I at once replied begging the Vice Royal Patron not to disturb the
course of the competition because the secular clergy were already in
possession of the curacy and the candidates had acquired a right to
it by the holding of the competition while the objection had not been
made at the proper time. This was to be without prejudice to later
going fully into the claim raised by the Reverend Provincial, which
turned upon the question of ownership. The reply denied this just
petition on the ground that would prejudice the question grievously,
conferring the right to possession with the title of ownership. I
made clearly apparent the error which had been incurred, and received
a reply that "the Vice Royal Patron was not in the habit of changing
a decision once it had been decreed."
The question of ownership resulted equally unsatisfactorily. To the
case were attached the original canonical order for the creation issued
in 1746 at the instance of the Vice Royal Patron and in conformity
with the canonical custom and the laws of the Indies. Likewise there
were submitted certified copies of the nomination of the parish priest
who served the parish from the last named date to 1808, since which
date as the Provincial admitted "it had been bestowed on competition
and appointment by the Vice Royal Patron on secular priests." Against
its having been a canonical foundation, the most legal and strongest
of claims, and to a continuous, undisturbed, unquestioned and clear
possession for one hundred twenty years, the Provincial offered
that his order had claimed the curacy within a few days of its
establishment. He did in fact submit two documents which were written
by the Provincial of San Juan de Dios, to which order the hacienda
of San Rafael had belonged. But in one hundred and twenty-two years
it had not been found convenient to push the claim, possibly because
at first the curacy had only some eighty poverty-stricken natives,
herders and laborers, while now it has over three thousand souls.
Likewise it was argued that since the Royal warrant of July 8th, 1826,
monastic orders had been returned to their charges in the state and
conditions they had when these were secularized by the Royal Warrant
of December 11th, 1776, the curacy of San Rafael must be included
because of the situation within the territory ceded to them. One must,
however, remember that this curacy could not be secularized, because
from its foundation it had been secular, and the two Royal warrants
mentioned are not applicable except by making the laws retroactive,
since the curacy was created thirty years before the Royal Warrant
of 1776 was issued.
These arguments, with others of the weakest character, were set forth
in a lengthy and hazy brief fathered by the Administrative Council,
and as the Vice Royal Patron endorsed it without changing a letter,
the matter was closed, because, although the undersigned petitioned
the Vice Royal Patron to submit the case to the Supreme Government's
decision, enclosing an opinion from two attorneys, he could not gain
this point and out of respect to the highest authority of the Island
(whose prestige he has ever endeavored to sustain) he desisted from
further effort. This result produced a real scandal among the native
priests and greatly enhanced their grief over so great and repeated
losses.
The chief cause of the obstacles which in every direction the clergy
of the country encounter is a public sentiment in vogue for some
years back, which unreasonably opposes having any native parish
priest. Those who think thus entirely forget the facts, allowing
their imagination to freely rove in the realm of imagination. Certain
is it that if the ecclesiastical establishment of the Archipelago
were being for the first time set up and it were possible to bring
from Spain enough priests to attend to the spiritual needs of its
populous parishes, scarcely would there be found a Spaniard of any
intelligence to whom such an arrangement would not seem the politic
course. But the question is not theoretic, on the contrary it is
eminently practical, and before it is settled there is no escape from
the previous examination of others which offer serious difficulties,
for example, considering the present cooling of religious ardor, what
likelihood is there of obtaining a considerable number of young men
willing to abandon their home country and go to lend their services in
spiritual ministrations in so distant a clime, especially one which
is reputed bad for the health? Could the public treasury without
difficulty meet the expenses necessary for establishing colleges and
maintaining professors and students, and for fitting out and paying
the fares of so many persons from the Peninsula to the Philippine
Islands? And even if this offered no difficulty and putting aside
present conditions, is there nothing to fear from keeping the native
clergy in their present growing bitterness? Let anybody put himself
in their place and reflect upon the series of measures heretofore
mentioned and he cannot but recognize how enormous have been the
damages they have suffered, and that those with which they are
still threatened give over-sufficient and powerful motives that,
notwithstanding their timidity, should change to hostility their
former fidelity and respect for the Spaniards.
Formerly the native priests controlled the curacies of the provinces
of Zambales, Bataan, and Pampanga. Of these they were dispossessed
and when they felt that with the taking away of these parishes all
their ills had ended, they received fresh, ruder shocks which renewed
and inflamed the wound. Consequently it is no longer possible to
characterise as class hatred their resentment against the friars,
though that was the proper term while the natives attributed their ill
fortune to the ambition and power of the monastic order. Now, after
repeated proofs, they are convinced that the government is assisting
the friars' immoderate aspirations; and that in the opinion of these
same priests of the country there has been adopted the policy of
reducing them to insignificance, they pass over the ancient barrier,
direct their glances higher, and what was formerly only hostility to
the friars is changing into anti-Spanish sentiment. I do not hesitate
to assert that if the Anglo-Americans or the English were to possess
themselves of the Philippine Archipelago they surely would show the
natives more consideration than they are receiving at the hands of
the Spaniard. And so, Your Royal Highness, to escape an imaginary
risk there is being created a real and true danger.
It will be readily understood that for the full carrying out of the
Royal Order of September 10th there will have to elapse a period
as long as that (from 1826 till the present) taken for completing
the turning over of the curacies assigned the friars under the Royal
Warrant before mentioned. And likewise it must be understood that as
the resentment of the natives is renewed each time that they lose
a curacy (as has just happened with the loss of Rosario parish in
Batangas province and of Cavite of which the Recollects are going
to take charge by way of compensation for the parish of Dapitan and
Lubugan mission, which they relinquished to the Jesuit fathers last
July) their hearts are filled with bitter grief, and so far from its
finding any relief, it is embittered, as seeing themselves without
any assistance at all while on the other hand the influence of their
adversaries is increasing on every hand. It is more urgent to furnish
prompt relief for their discontent and exasperation since if the
effervescence which I noticed in them on my return from the Vatican
council continues for any considerable length of time it will give an
opportunity for the sentiments of the native clergy spreading among
their parents, relatives, and the entire Filipino people, with whom
they are in closer touch than are the friars, and so the evil might
take on grave proportions.
It will not be hidden from the exalted acumen of Your Highness that
it is highly desirable and even necessary to put out this small fire
which might by mischance change itself into a formidable conflagration,
which perhaps in the first stage of slight apprehension might serve
the purpose of those who are trying to spread vain terrors, and I say
vain, because in spite of the strictest investigation, until now there
has been no positive proof to justify the accusation latterly directed
against the secular clergy, for the reason set forth that the writer
is of the opinion that the Royal Order of September 10th, and the
explanation thereof insofar as they affect the Archbishopric of Manila,
should be changed restoring matters by prompt and effective measures
to the conditions and state in which they were when the Mindanao
curacies and missions were turned over by the Recollect friars to
the Jesuit fathers; that the Recollect should be compensated with
other parishes in the Diocese of Cebu and the Jaro Diocese, which
was taken from them in 1867, according to the number of parishes
supplied in each of them by the secular clergy, to make up for the
lack of native priests which is experienced in both; and, lastly,
that there be ordered the reference to the Minister of Ultramar of the
original case instituted at the suggestion of the Provincial (now the
Procurator) of the Calced Augustinians (i. e., Recollects), regarding
the holding of the parish of San Rafael, Bulac province, in order that
it may be investigated and reach a solution in accordance with justice,
which in the judgment of the secular clergy it is now far from being.
The writer earnestly implores Your Excellency so to adjust the matter,
with full confidence that it will not only calm the inquietude of
their minds, but also that, reenforced by the gratitude of the never
tarnished loyalty of the Filipino native clergy, it may tighten
more and more the ties that unite this fruitful Archipelago to our
beloved Spain.
May God preserve for many years the life of Your Highness and grant him
amplest wisdom and favor for the well-being of the Catholic religion
and of our beloved fatherland.
GREGORIO,
Archbishop of Manila.
Manila, December 31, 1870.
HIS SERENE HIGHNESS
The Regent of the Kingdom.