by the Mexican government.[1] In 1861 there were in the republic, besides the prelates of the seven sees, the abbot of the Colegiata de Guadalupe, 13 provisores, 81 canons, 46 racioneros, and 13 masters of ceremonies, making together 154 ecclesiastical dignitaries; 64 vicarios foráneos, 1,468 parish priests, 72 capellanes de coro, 113 capellanes sencillos, aggregating 1,717, and a grand total of 1,871 priests, outside of the regular orders.[2]
The secular clergy of Mexico have ever been the subject of remarks detracting from their respectability. The whole organization, and the manner of obtaining their revenue, as well as of performing their ministerial duties, have tended to nullify their prestige, and the veneration which should be, and is in many countries, felt toward ministers of the gospel. The revenue has been unequally and unfairly distributed; the country priests being poorly compensated, while the bulk of tithes, fees, and emoluments in the wealthy dioceses have gone to the high clergy, namely, bishops and chapters, and to keeping up splendor in the cathedral churches.[3] The dioceses, as they were divided till the sixth decade of this century, were so extensive
- ↑ Pablo F. Vazquez was confirmed as bishop of Puebla. His predecessors in this century were Man. Ign. Gonzalez Campillo and Ant. J. Perez Martinez. His successors, J. L. Becerra, Pedro Ant. de Labastida y Dávalos, Carlos M. Colina, appointed March 16, 1863. Bishops for Michoacan, Guadalajara, Durango, Chiapas, and Nuevo Leon were also confirmed in 1831. Other dioceses were provided for later: that of Yucatan in 1834; Californias about 1836; and those of Guadalajara, a second nomination, and Sonora in 1837; so that at the beginning of 1838 Mexico and Oajaca were the only churches without prelates, owing to their voluntary absence. Bustamante, Cuadro Hist., iii. 300–5; Zavula, Revol. Mex., i. 370-1; Iglesias y Conv., 177; La Cruz, v. 562-3; Alaman, Hist. Méj., iv. 441-4.
- ↑ According to this there was a decrease since 1826, when there were 3,677 clergymen. The number given in the text does not include priests engaged in teaching or holding no particular office. Rivera, Mex. in 1842, 125-6.
- ↑ In some dioceses, where the prelate was getting from $100,000 to $120,000 a year, many parish priests received the pittance of $100 or $120 yearly. Ward's Mex. in 1827, i. 385. Matters were not better in 1858, when the bulk of the property and revenues was monopolized by a few corporations and the upper clergy. Diario de Aviso, June 4, 1858. It is but just to say that bishops applied a part of their income to the relief of the indigent, hospitals, and asylums. Then again, some bishops had small incomes, and the more recently created bishoprics had no cathedrals. Those of Sonora, L. California, New Leon, Chiapas, and Yucatan had government pensions, amounting together to $32,000. Rosa, Juicio Imparcial, 4-5, 34.
