The Present State of Peru/5c
HISTORICAL DETAILS RELATIVE TO THE PROVINCIAL COUNCILS OF LIMA.
Among the many excellent institutions which distinguish the Peruvian capital, is to be reckoned that of the provincial councils celebrated there. They evince the constant zeal of the monarchs of Spain for religion and discipline; and the pastoral vigilance of the prelates, who have spared neither pains nor labour, in the promotion of their views, and in the accomplishment of these sacred and interesting purposes.
The disturbances of which Gonzalo Pizarro was the principal instigator having been successfully terminated, and before others of a still more sanguinary nature had been excited by the open rebellion of Francisco Hernandes Giron, the fathers and prelates who resided at Lima, availed themselves of that short interval, to establish some degree of order in the affairs of the church, which, in common with all the other concerns of the republic, had been deranged, shortly after the conquest, by revolutions similar to those above pointed out. They accordingly united in a provincial council in the year 1552. Not any mention is made of the bishops who were present; but it is extremely probable that, besides friar Geronimo Loaysa, of the order of St. Domingo, the first archbishop of Lima, the bishops of Quito and Cusco, who then resided in that city, and who, as well as the archbishop, accompanied the president Gasco to the battle of Sachahuana, constituted a part of the council. The questions which were discussed in this congregation are not noticed; and indeed the only information now extant relates to the convocation itself. It is probable that this assembly was a kind of Peruvian Cortes, in which, in imitation of the councils of Toledo, certain bishops being united to the magistrates of the capital, such provisions as were then required by the critical conjuncture in which the kingdom was placed, were made, both in spiritual and temporal affairs.
Loaysa continued in the discreet governance of the church, and having understood that the council of Trent, by which it was enacted that provincial councils should be holden every three years, had been concluded, confirmed, and published in Spain, he convened one, which may be considered as the second, and which was celebrated in 1567. The fathers of the church who were present at it are not named; but it is presumable that they were the same as on the preceding occasion, in conjunction with the bishop of Chile. This council having completed its deliberations, the a6ts were published throughout the kingdom, and their observance recommended; but having been transmitted to Spain, and thence to Rome, it was not deemed expedient to confirm them, and, still less, to allow them to be printed. Santo Toribio has left us, however, a compendium of them, by which the motive of their not having been confirmed is explained. It appears that certain things were ordained which were without doubt rendered necessary by the circumstances of those times, but which were not in the province of the fathers, whose zeal, in the correction of abuses, had led them, nevertheless, to stamp these acts with the seal of their authority. In reality, both the order and execution, in cases of such a nature, then belonged, as they now do, to a power distinct from the spiritual. Laying aside this consideration, the above assembly of prelates is well deserving of our respect, as well on account of the earnestness which was displayed in providing against the necessities of the times, as of the collection of the decrees that were promulgated. That they served as a fundamental help to the council which was afterwards celebrated by Santo Toribio, appears by a comparison between the decrees of each of the councils.
On the demise of Loaysa, he was succeeded by Don Toribio Alfonso De Mogrovejo, who had no sooner reached Lima than he assembled a council, which entered on its deliberations in the month of August 1582, at which time Don Martin Enriquez was viceroy of Peru. The bishops of Cusco, of Santiago de Chile, of la Imperial (after the destruction of that city, he was translated to la Concepcion), of Tucuman, and of la Plata, were present at this council, which was conducted with much harmony and tranquillity, and with a profound knowledge of the subjects that were there treated and ordained. Its proceedings were terminated at the close of the following year, with the same concord and union of sentiment as at the commencement. This council may be considered as having established the code of the ecclesiastical discipline of Peru, and, indeed, of all Spanish South America. It enjoined, that each of the individuals enrolled in the different parishes, whether Indian or Spaniard, should have in his possession a copy of its acts, on penalty of a fine of a hundred crowns, and the dread of the greater excommunication.
Besides the decrees, the above council published a catechism of the christian doctrines, in the Spanish and Indian tongues, in dialogues written in a clear and perspicuous style, and consequently well adapted to the comprehension of the people. It likewise published a smaller catechism in questions and answers; and a third, drawn up in a more familiar manner, for the use of children. The whole was under the skilful direction of the archbishop Santo Toribio, who availed himself of the aid of many learned men, then residing in Lima, more particularly of that of father Juan De Acosta, of the order of Jesuits, by whom the acts of the council were framed, and who is considered as the author of the catechism in dialogues. Finally, the council combined the views of the two preceding ones, with whatever have been dictated by an experience of thirty years, in such a way as to claim the public applause, the royal approbation, and the confirmation of the holy apostolic see.
Many were, notwithstanding, to be found who were greatly exasperated at the censure fulminated, in the third act, against every ecclesiastic engaged in commercial pursuits. It was, indeed, a spectacle equally novel and pleasant, to see a considerable number of priests repair to the council of the Indies, and to Rome even, to pray that the excommunication pronounced by the council of Lima should be taken off, at a time when the decree of the council of Trent, which renewed in the most rigorous manner the prohibitions and penalties that have been constantly pronounced by the canons of the church, at all times and in all countries, were in their greatest vigour, and in full observance. The result was, that the appellants failed in the object of their solicitations, as well before the council, as at Rome, where the decree was confirmed in all its particulars. The same thing occurred relatively to the protests against another article, which excommunicated the visitors who should conceal or mutilate the proceedings, in the visitation to which the priests were subjected, to the end that they should not, either wholly or in part, reach the hands of the ordinary. As both these pretensions were set up at the same time, so as to lead to a suspicion that it was at once the wish of the ecclesiastics to persevere in carrying on a traffic, and that of the visitors to continue to receive bribes for concealing the proceedings, their aim was readily defeated, and the excommunications of the council of Lima maintained without any abatement. It does not behove us to examine whether this salutary discipline is strictly observed at the present time.
The second council celebrated by Santo Toribio, and the fourth in order of the councils of Lima, assembled in 1591, and confirmed all the decrees of the preceding one, at the same time that a new decree was enacted, enjoining all the ecclesiastics entrusted with the cure of souls, to have in their possession the acts of the council of 1583, the catechism in dialogues, and the two smaller catechisms. The visitors were ordered to attend zealously to the str16t enforcement of this provision. It appears by the deliberations of this council, that disputes subsisted at that time between the priesthood and the state, more particularly on the subje6t of the immunities and competence of the jurisdictions;—a question which has at all times occupied a great portion of the time of the tribunals. A publication was also made of the ceremonial, or Regla consueta, for the good order and decorum to be observed in the worship of the cathedral church of Lima. The arch-bishop Santo Toribio, and the bishop of Cusco, alone were present at this council, the other bishops of the province having sent their procurators.
Santo Toribio, who continued to promote the discipline of the church by every practicable expedient, after having holden several synods of the dioceses, finally convened a third provincial council, which assembled in 1601. The bishops of Quito and Panama gave their attendance; but the other provincial bishops sent procurators. It was brought to a speedy conclusion, on this account, that, as it had been made apparent, by an experience of eighteen years, that little attention had been paid to the decrees of 1583, instead of making any new provisions, it would be most advisable to try the effect of a gentle exhortation to a compliance with their tenor and purport, and, if that should fail, to threaten the refractory with the penalties of the church. It was once more recommended to all ecclesiastics, to have in their possession the acts of the council of 1583, by which their conduct should be regulated. That these acts had been so much neglected, was the necessary effect of the disputes between the royal and ecclesiastical tribunals. They had at that time been produ6live of much warmth and animosity; and as malignant spirits were not wanting to take advantage of these turbulencies, by espousing alternately the cause of either party, according as it suited their convenience, the archbishop was thus defeated in the accomplishment of his views, as he himself complained in his letters to Philip II.
The above are the five provincial councils holden in the capital of Peru; and are so many testimonies of the zeal which was displayed in those times, for the purity of the faith, the sacred doctrines, and ecclesiastical discipline. Respecting the earlier two, it has already been observed, that their decrees have not been transmitted to us. Of the three latter, the acts of which have been published, that of 1583 may be considered as the principal one, insomuch as it comprises whatever belongs to the good government of the metropolitan church and its suffragans. It is substantially the code of the ecclesiastical laws of Peru.
Santo Toribio died in 1606, at which time the provincial councils had been discontinued both in Europe and America, for reasons that are well known to the learned. This circumstance did not, however, abate the zeal of the prelates. Lobo-Guerrero, the immediate successor of Santo Toribio, published the synodical discourses which have since been augmented and improved by the other archbishops. The pastoral letters they have left behind them are replete with piety and learning.
A wish having been, however, posteriorly expressed, that the councils should be again convened, his Catholic Majesty, Charles III. dispatched a royal schedule, named Tomo Regio, diredled to the archbishops and bishops of South America, to the end that the former should convoke, and the latter be present at, a council which was to be holden in each respe6tive province. In consequence of this royal mandate, that of Lima was holden in 1772. The bishops of Santiago De Chile, of la Concepcion, of Guamanga, and of Cusco, were present; but those of Truxillo, Arequipa, and Panama, sent procurators. The proceedings of this august assembly were conducted with a concord which is known to all, since it happened in our times. The acts have not, however, been published; a circumstance which prevents us from entering into a detail of the particulars. We shall merely add, that immediately after the convocation, the archbishop Don Antonio De Parada, ordered the catechism in dialogues, of which mention has been precedently made, to be again printed for the purposes of general instruction.
