Concerning the ecclesiastical history of the province, we learn that after the decease of Bishop Córdoba, in 1598,[XXXV‑46] the mitre was bestowed on Juan Ramirez de Arellano, a man said to be of royal lineage. The honor was bestowed in recognition of his zeal in the conversion of the natives of Miztecapan. He had previously made a pilgrimage from Spain to Home on foot, in as humble guise as ever journeyed the apostles of old, and was received with peculiar honor by the pope. When he arrived in Guatemala in 1601, he changed in nothing the austere mode of life for which he was noted when a simple friar. His fervor and determination in the cause of the church brought on him the enmity of the cabildo,[XXXV‑47] whose members prayed the king that the bishop might be removed to some other diocese, and their own allowed a period of tranquillity. His death, which occurred not long afterward, released the citizens of Santiago from further anxiety. During the administration of Ramirez it is commonly supposed that the bishopric of Vera Paz was abolished and its territory annexed to that of Guatemala.[XXXV‑48] Bishop Juan Cabezas Altamirano of Cuba was transferred to Guatemala in 1610, and took possession of the episcopal chair the following year. In 1613 he consecrated with imposing ceremonies Alonso Galdo, bishop-elect of Honduras, this being the first ceremony of the kind performed in Guatemala. Two years later Altamirano was seized with apoplexy and died, when the mitre was offered to Pedro de Valencia, who before his arrival in Guatemala was promoted to the bishopric of La Paz. The bishopric remained vacant till 1621, Francisco de la Vega Sarmiento, dean of Mexico, having declined to accept it, and Pedro de Villa Real, bishop of Nicaragua, the next one appointed, dying before he reached the diocese. It was then bestowed on Juan Zapata y Sandoval, bishop of Chiapas, who was born of one of the noblest families in Mexico. He was noted for his charitable disposition and was the first bishop who conferred degrees in the college of Santo Tomás of Guatemala. After occupying the episcopal chair for nine years he died in January 1630, and was buried in the cathedral of Guatemala.[XXXV‑49]
The next occupant, Bishop Agustin de Ugarte y Saravia, came also by promotion from Chiapas, and presided over the diocese for nine years. He made valuable presents to the monastery of La Concepcion; laid the foundation stone of the convent of Santa Catarina Mártyr, and founded the convent of Nuestra Señora del Cármen. He was promoted to Arequipa in Peru in 1641, and afterward to Quito, where he died in 1650.
His successor, Bartolomé Gonzalez Soltero, had held a variety of important trusts, having been thrice rector of the university in Mexico, visitador of libraries, fiscal, and afterward member of the inquisition. How soon after Saravia's transfer to Peru Soltero entered upon his duties is not quite certain, but probably not for some time.[XXXV‑50] His rule was peaceful, and his devotion to the sick, during a time of pestilence, won the respect of the cabildo.[XXXV‑51] He died on the 25th of January 1650, and was buried in the cathedral of Santiago.
RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
The income of the diocese in 1648, as officially reported, was eight thousand pesos per annum, and at that time there were in the city of Santiago convents belonging to the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Jesuits, Mercenarios, and the order of San Juan de Dios. In charge of the Dominicans was the hospital of San Alejo, and in 1641 that of Santiago was assigned to the care of the friars of San Juan de Dios.[XXXV‑52] Under the management of this society was also the hospital of San Lazaro. There were, moreover, in the city four nunneries, two in charge of the Dominican order, one of the order of La Concepcion, and one of the order of Santa Catarina Mártyr, the latter containing four hundred inmates besides a large number of pupils.
In wealth and luxuries these orders had reached a degree second only to that attained by the regulars in Mexico and Peru. The cloister of the Dominicans, for instance, had large revenues flowing in from its Indian dependencies, water-mill privileges, and farms, sugar plantations, and a silver mine.[XXXV‑53] Within the ample grounds of their convent were artificial lakes, fish-ponds, and fruit and flower gardens, and their church was rich with costly ornaments and jewelry. The Dominicans may have fared better than the other orders, but to none was lacking either comfort or affluence. Hardly less wealthy than the Dominicans was the cloister of the nuns of La Concepcion, the inmates of which were very numerous. It is narrated by Gage that one fair sister of this society, Doña Juana de Maldonado, daughter of the judge, so bewitched the bishop with her youth and charms, that to gratify her he strove to install her as lady superior and abbess, despite her youth and inexperience. In fact the prelate's conduct was such as to create scandal, and many noted citizens, whose relatives were inmates, entered the convent prepared to effect a change by compulsion. The intervention of President Guzman and the young lady's father resulted in a relinquishment of her ambitious designs.
The Bethlehemites appeared in Guatemala about the middle of the seventeenth century, the founder of their order being Fray Pedro de San José Vetancur. Their first habitation was a small house which was purchased for forty pesos obtained by contribution. The order did not, however, long remain in poverty, and in a few years large gifts of money were annually presented to the society. In 1667 Vetancur was succeeded by Fray Rodrigo as the leader of the brotherhood, and soon afterward a church was erected by the Bethlehemites in Santiago at an expense of seventy thousand pesos,[XXXV‑54] as well as other costly edifices. In 1667 they adopted a code; but the Franciscan provincial objected to its approval, as it provided the same habit as that worn by his own order. This difficulty obviated, the rules and regulations were approved by the bishop on the 6th of February 1668.[XXXV‑55] The society was reorganized in 1681 on a basis which was sanctioned by the pope and the king, but not until Fray Rodrigo had spent fifteen years in advocating its cause in Madrid and Rome.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
After Bishop Soltero's death the episcopal palace was not occupied by a prelate until 1659. Juan Garcilaso de la Vega was first appointed to succeed him, but died at Tehuantepec on the 5th of May, 1654, while on his way to Santiago. His remains were conveyed thither and interred in the cathedral. Fray Payo Enriques de Ribera was next appointed to the vacant see, and took possession in February 1659.
In 1660 a royal order arrived rendering more obligatory former instructions as to the extent and stipends of curacies. Curates had been employing secular assistants, to whose charge they either partly or entirely committed their spiritual duties. They nevertheless collected all fees and dues. It was not permitted for a curate to have charge of more than four hundred natives, and when the renewed mandate arrived Bishop Ribera undertook to enforce its observance. The fiscal, Pedro Frasso, however, claimed that right and also all surplus moneys received by curates who had more than the legal number under their charge. The controversy waxed warm and extended to great length.[XXXV‑56]