[The litigation between the prelate and the religious orders originated from the visitation of the village of Dilao (which belonged to the ministry of the Franciscan fathers), commenced by Archbishop Miguel Garcia Serrano, June 24, 1624,2 with the dictation by him of the following:]3
Act. In the village of Quiapo, which is near the city of Manila, on the twenty-second day of the month of June, one thousand six hundred and twenty-two, his Excellency, Don Fray Miguel García y Serrano, archbishop of these Philipinas Islands, member of his Majesty’s council, etc., declared that, inasmuch as the eleventh chapter of the twenty-fifth session of the holy council of Trent rules and orders that the religious who exercise the duties of curas of souls be immediately subject, in regard to such duties and in all that pertains to the administration of the sacraments, to the jurisdiction, visit, and correction of the bishop in whose diocese they minister; and that no one, even though he be admovibilis ad nutum, can exercise the said office of cura without having obtained beforehand the consent and examination of the bishop or his vicar, etc.,4 which is ordered to be strictly observed and obeyed, both by the bishops and the superiors of the religious, and by the religious themselves, by the twenty-second chapter following, notwithstanding any privileges, constitutions, rules, customs, rights, and others non obstantibus, etc.; besides which, his Holiness Gregory Fourteenth, by his brief which was obtained at the instance of his Majesty, under date of Roma, April 18, one thousand five hundred and ninety-one, charges and orders the archbishop of these islands to visit the missions and the religious in them.5
All of the above is ordered to be observed and obeyed in these islands by decrees of his Majesty, under date of June first, five hundred and eighty-five; December twenty-one, five hundred and ninety-five; and November fourteen, one thousand six hundred and three.6 In conformity with these decrees, his most illustrious Lordship, wishing to observe what his Holiness and his Majesty have ordered, as it is a matter very advisable and necessary for the service of God our Lord and that of his Majesty, and the welfare and increase of the conversion, teaching, and instruction of the natives of these islands, notified the very reverend fathers-provincial in Christ of the sacred orders of St. Dominic and St. Augustine, and the commissaries of that of St. Francis, of these islands, by means of an order signed by his most illustrious Lordship, which was given to them in the first part of April of this current year, so that, understanding it, the matter might be facilitated and observed on the part of the said orders, with the good-will and exactness that is proper, and which they have always had in obeying and observing the orders of the holy apostolic see, and those of his Majesty. And inasmuch as it is advisable that there be no more delay in the above, his most illustrious Lordship intends to go to visit the mission of the natives of the village of Dilao, outside the walls of the city of Manila, which is in charge of the Order of St. Francis, on the day of St. John the Baptist. He has advised the father guardian of the said convent thereof, in order that the Indians of the said convent may be assembled in the church at the hour of high mass, and so that all other necessary arrangements be made for making the said visit. His Lordship ordered the above to be set down as an act, together with the copy of the brief of his Holiness Gregory Fourteenth, and of his Majesty’s decrees, of which mention is made above; and he signed the same.
In the town of Quiapo, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of June, one thousand six hundred and twenty-two, the illustrious lord Don Fray Miguel Garcia Serrano, archbishop of the Philipinas, member of his Majesty’s council, etc., declared that he ordered—and he did so order—that that notification that his illustrious Lordship ordered to be made and that he made, to the superiors of the religious orders—namely, the order mentioned in the act of the twenty-second of this month, which was made on account of the visitation of Dilao—be filed with the [records of the] said visitation, which is to be begun on this said day, of the said mission and ministry of Dilao. Thus did he decree and order.
Very reverend fathers in Christ, the provincials of the holy orders of these Philipinas Islands: Being obliged to carry out the ordinance and mandate of the holy council of Trent and the decrees of his Majesty in regard to the examination and visitation which I have to make of the religious who are administering the missions of natives in my diocese, I deemed it advisable, in order to attain my object better, to inform your Paternities of it before beginning it—so that, understanding the matter, it might be facilitated and observed by your Paternities with the good-will and exactness that are proper, and which you have always displayed in obeying and observing the mandates of the holy apostolic see and those of his Majesty.
As your Paternities know, chapter 11 of the 25th session of the holy council of Trent, De regularibus et monialibus, rules and orders that the religious who exercise the duties of curas of souls be immediately subject as regards such duties, and in everything that pertains to the administration of sacraments, to the jurisdiction, visit, and correction of the bishop in whose diocese they administer; and that no one, though he be amovilibis ad nutum, may exercise the said duty of cura without first having obtained the consent of, and been examined by, the bishop or his vicar, etc. Both the bishops and the superiors of the religious, and the religious themselves, are strictly ordered to observe and fulfil the above, as ordered by article 22 following, notwithstanding any privileges, regulations, rules, customs, and rights, and others non obstantibus, etc.
This decree then, of the holy council of Trent, has two parts—one in which it is ordered that the said religious be immediately subject in regard to curas, and in all that pertains to the administration of sacraments, to the jurisdiction, visit, and correction of the bishops; and the other that, before being admitted to the said duty, they must obtain the consent of, and be examined by, the bishops or their vicars. There has never been any innovation in the first; for, although the second part had the innovation that appears in two briefs issued by his Holiness Pius V—one in general for all Christendom, which he conceded at the instance of the mendicant orders, under date of Roma, July 17, 1567, in the second year of his pontificate, whose beginning is, Etsi mendicantium ordines; and the other a special one for the Yndias, at the instance of his Majesty, under date of Roma, of March 26, of the same year—in those briefs there was no innovation in regard to the first part. On the contrary, in the brief of his Holiness Gregory XIV which his Majesty sent to these islands, and which was obtained at his instance, under date of Roma, April 18, 1591, the first year in which he commits to the archbishop of Manila the adjustment and restitution of what the conquistadors and other persons had in charge among the Indians, and prohibits religious from going from a pacified district to convert one unpacified, without the permission of the bishops, there is a clause of the following tenor …: Praeteria cum praecipuum munus Episcoporum sit proprias oves per se ipsos pascere et visitare.7
In regard to the second part of the two things ordered by the holy council—that is, that the religious, before they can exercise the duties of the care of souls, must first get the consent of, and be examined by, the bishops or their vicars—that order also appears today in its entire force and vigor. For although it is true that his Holiness Pius V reserved the said religious from the said permission and examination, by the two privileges above mentioned, afterward his Holiness Gregory XIII reduced these and all the other favors and concessions given to the mendicant orders by Pius V to the terms of law and the holy council of Trent, as appears by his motu proprio given at Roma, on the kalends of March, 1573, the first year