The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

90 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

unnatural fault for any body of men to fall into, and especially
men situated as were the friars of the Philippines. Accordingly
they are found doing the very things that they condemned
in others. Coming in time to look upon the Philippines as
peculiarly their own, they resented any interference from outside their ranks, whether from the secular clergy or from the
government. Hostile to change in the status quo, they became
a bar to progress and the Philippines lagged lamentably behind
the rest of the world." 17
This power increased with the passing of time. The powers
of the inquisition were finally transferred to the bishops and
vicars. All cases which could by any stretch of language be
called matters involving faith were tried in ecclesiastical courts,
which fell into the same abuses of power that the inquisition
had committed, providing indeed nothing less than "inquisitorial tribunals with the same authority which former tribunals
had exercised, of inflicting punishments spiritual as well as
corporeal." Pope and Spanish monarch alike at length had to
take action. In 1835 the Spanish Government abolished the
local church tribunals, which they found "depriving accused
persons of the means of defense, keeping from them the names
of the persons testifying against them."
"Among the complaints made by Viana occurs one commonly brought against the friars, namely, that they did all they
could to prevent the natives from learning Spanish. The purpose of this was alleged to be to keep them in ignorance so
that their own work among the Indians (Filipinos) could not
be investigated. Thus the friars were said to be able to evade
the enforcement of the laws and to continue their despotism.
Viana complained that 'they mock at the zeal of the governor,
of the archbishop, of the fiscal,... and as these officials and
the ministers of the audiencia are seldom united... because
the religious orders do not neglect to mislead some of them, the
latter are always sure of victory.' " 18
'7 Robertson, Catholic Historical Review. Vol. III, p. 3i8.
8"Viana to Carlos III, May i, 1767," in Blair and Robertson, op. cit., L.
121-22, uoted by Charles H. Cunningham in The American Journal of Theology,
Vol. XXII, No. 2.