to systematize the administration of the archbishopric and parochial churches.[1]
In 1565 a second ecclesiastical council was convoked by the archbishop, the chief object being the recognition of the acts promulgated by the ecumenical council of Trent in 1563. The suffragan bishops who attended it were those of Chiapas, Yucatan, Tlascala, Nueva Galicia, and Oajaca.[2] Twenty-eight chapters were enacted, many of them constituting amendments of declarations passed at the previous council, which had proved in a great measure to be but a mere display of authority without effect.[3]
On the 7th of March 1572 the venerable Archbishop Montúfar died at an advanced age, after a painful and lingering illness of eighteen months,[4] and was buried in the Dominican convent. The fatherly solicitude which he had ever displayed for his flock caused his death to be deeply regretted.[5] He had devoted himself earnestly to the duties of his calling, and never lost sight of the fact that the church in New Spain needed much reformation and a more
- ↑ Concilios Prov., MS., No. 1.
- ↑ The bishop of Michoacan was represented by a proctor. There were present also the visitador general, Valderrama, the oidores, the king's treasury officials, the dean, chapter, and vicars of the archbishopric, and the alcaldes and regidores of the city. Id., i. 160-9; Id., 1555-65, vi.-vii. 185-212.
- ↑ Priests were forbidden to charge fees for the administration of the sacraments to Indians, and it is noticeable that again the tendency of the clergy to lend money at usury and engage in trading speculations is exposed. Among other enactments that which exempted the natives from the payment of tithes may be mentioned. The chapters were published on the 11th of November 1565, and on the 12th of December following the archbishop and bishops decreed the fulfilment of them. Id.
- ↑ During his long archiepiscopal career he never ceased to be an humble friar, and his charity was limited only by the means at his command. Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd., Id.
- ↑ The above date is given by Sosa, Episcop. Mex., 17, 24-6, who claims that the writers, Dávila Padilla, Gonzalez Dávila, Vetancurt, Eguiara, Lorenzana, Beristain, and others are in error in assigning the year 1569 as the date of Montufar's death. Sosa founds his assertion on the fact that several acts of the ecclesiastic chapter of Mexico down to Sept. 3, 1571, show that there was an archbishop in Mexico, and he could be none other than Montúfar. He also furnishes a copy of his portrait, which exists in the gallery of the cathedral. At the foot there is an inscription of the artist, who also states that Montúfar died in 1569, at the age of 80 years. Dávila Padilla, Hist. Fvnd., 509-11, gives 92 years as his age.
