29. On the following day the archbishop again declared the members of the cabildo to be excommunicated, alleging that although the bishop of Troya had absolved them, he had done so only ad reincidentiam, for such time as the bishop should choose. In the said act he also commanded that in the afternoon of the same day they should go to the cathedral to receive absolution and dispensation; and on the next day they must all go to the church of Santo Domingo, to make amends to the friars for imagined injuries.
30. The function of the absolution and dispensation was celebrated with the greatest publicity, and in a very marked, offensive, and injurious manner. An enormous number of the lower class of people were called in, from the neighboring villages—and especially from Binondoc, which is a village in charge of the Dominicans; for that purpose, the sermons which would occur that afternoon in some churches were suppressed, so that all the people could go to see a performance that would so exalt the Dominican fathers.
31. The prebends went to the church, ignorant of the measures taken for exposing them to ignominy. They found two tribunals erected, one at the church door, and the other inside, at the great altar; and there was an enormous concourse of people. Of the religious orders, the Dominicans were there in great numbers; from the colleges, only the members of Santo Thomas [Tomistas]. The archbishop occupied his judgment-seat at the door of the church, and at either side were his beloved Juan Gonzalez and Aduna. He called the prebends and made them kneel before him in order to be absolved, as if they were heretics. He handled a ferule while the Miserere lasted, although he did not, on account of the entreaties of those who were present, strike the capitulars with it. Then he went inside the church, and after performing other ceremonies, took his seat on the second platform, where he made an address, in which he gave many and sharp stabs to those who favored the cause of the cabildo; and after that the performance came to an end, with much gossiping among the people, who regarded these actions as revengeful.
32. The archbishop prepared a feast in order to regale the prebends, quite contrary to his usual manner and harsh temper; the prebends attended it unwillingly, seeing that they had been treated like boys, and that this banquet was only a device to shut their mouths. He made them elect another secretary for that same cabildo’s corporation, and afterward inflicted punishment on him who was secretary while they governed; this was a poor cleric, whom he declared excommunicated and suspended,[90] and seized his little property, for having acted officially in the proceedings brought against Don Juan Gonzalez by the dean as provisor.
33. Troya returned from Cagayan, where he had gone, on the pretext of administering confirmations, during the time of these transactions. There he deprived of their curacies, and loaded with censures, Licentiate Diego de las Navas and Bachelor Diego de Espinosa Marañon; and having sent them to Manila, he placed friars in their stead. Afterward he imposed excommunications on the alcaldes-mayor and collectors of tribute who might buy and sell goods with the Indians of those provinces.
34. Don Juan de Vargas, after his name had been on the list of excommunicates two months, and he had been interdicted for four months from entrance into the churches, solicited absolution, by a petition to the archbishop; the latter sent it to Troya, so that he might poison it. Troya pushed Don Juan farther toward ruin, and—paying no attention to the reasons which the said master-of-camp Vargas brought forward as having influenced him to banish the archbishop, in behalf of the prerogatives of the king our sovereign—he made answer furiously, that Don Juan must be absolved with publicity; and, although the governor advised him, the bishop paid no heed to this.
35. At Lent in 1685, the archbishop suspended three fathers of the Society, to whom the cabildo while it governed had given permission to preach and hear confessions; he did this not only because of the aversion which he had taken for the cabildo, but on account of the enmity which he had always felt toward the Society. The governor compelled two foreign ships to pay very exorbitant imposts, at which they were greatly dissatisfied.
36. Don Juan de Vargas was not ready for absolution. The archbishop called together the theologians, to tell him whether the absolution should be given privately; this was decided in the affirmative by the majority of votes, but the Dominicans opposed it. The archbishop, in order to defeat the resolution, decreed that Vargas must first perform the following penance: During an entire month, he must be present in the cathedral, from morning until high mass, clothed in sackcloth and in the garb of a penitent, with a halter round his neck; and for another month he must, in the same manner, attend the church of Santo Domingo; another, the hospital of San Gabriel; and another, the church of Binondoc. Then, the said penance being accomplished, he would be absolved by Domingo Diaz, a mestizo of infamous character. The said Don Juan de Vargas appealed, but the appeal was not allowed him, and he remains in the same condition up to the present time.
Paragraphs of a letter written from Manila, June 15, 1685, by Auditor Don Pedro Sebastian de Bolivar y Mena to his agent at Madrid, Don Diego Ortiz de Valdes.
In this ship came as governor of these islands Don Gabriel de Curuzalegui y Arriola, a knight of excellent abilities, very disinterested, and intent on the service of his Majesty—whose royal revenues from the department of customs, which were so impaired, have been enormously increased, of which he will, I doubt not, send statements to the Council. The trouble is, that this place is so corrupt that, even though a very good man comes here, with the best intentions, people make him fail in his duty. Even if I had not had a letter from you for the purpose, he would show indignation against me. For, having spoken to the governor at various times, and asked if you had hinted anything about me, either personally or through Don Tomas, he has replied that such was not the case; but this did not happen to Don Diego de Viga, for he carried the recommendations of Don Tomas, and therefore has a place in [the governor’s] affection—although he shows all kindness to me also, and I endeavor to serve him as far as I can reasonably. As soon as this knight arrived, he made strenuous efforts to secure the restoration of the archbishop to his see—for which he made a proposition, or offered his opinion, to the royal court, finding occasion for this in one which the secular cabildo had offered on the same subject. And, although, in the private conferences which he held with each one of us upon this matter, it was represented to him that such a solution [of the difficulty] was impossible—since account of it had been rendered to his Majesty, and the acts therein referred to him; and also since the circumstances and facts which had given cause for the archbishop’s banishment still existed; and that no restitution had been or would be made to the royal jurisdiction for the injury that he had done it, nor had he offered any betterment in the future—he nevertheless insisted that it must be done. And as here there is no [opportunity for any] will, save that of a governor, since he is absolute, we all had to acquiesce, under compulsion and pressure, in the restitution of the archbishop—and not only that, but also in accepting the bishop of Troya as governor ad interim until his illustrious Lordship came back. As soon as the latter arrived, he began to unsheathe the sword, against all the human race; for he declared that all three of us auditors had incurred the excommunications imposed by the bull of Cena [Domini; i.e., the Lord’s Supper] and by the canon, commanding that we should not be admitted into the churches. This we reported to the governor, and reminded him of the inconveniences which, as we had represented to him, would follow from such restitution; and he, while acknowledging this, talked of availing himself of extrajudicial measures to hinder those that were judicial; consequently we were interdicted from the church for several days. At the end of that time, he sent to summon me, on an occasion when I was alone in the Audiencia, and told me that he had the matter settled; that the act [of excommunication] should be recalled—with only [the stipulation] that the archbishop should go to the palace at a time when we all were there together with his Lordship; and that, the archbishop entering with him, we should kiss his hand, and everything would remain settled. I informed my associates of this, and all agreed to it, provided that the word “absolution” should not be used, because if it were, all of us would leave the room; moreover, we supposed that Don Juan de Vargas would be included in this act, for, as he had concurred with us, as our president, it would be very proper that he should do the same as we. I gave this reply to the governor, and he told me that as for what concerned Don Juan de Vargas, he had already arranged it, and that for this he was responsible. In accordance with this [agreement], we assembled at the palace. The archbishop came, and we went forward to receive him, making the obeisance due to the prelate; with that, the prohibition was recalled, and we remained free to enter the churches. But it was continued with Don Juan; and to this day his name remains on the list of excommunicated persons. It is intended, as I understand, that his absolution shall be made in public, with all the ancient ceremonial forms.