s appoint their outside vicars for those territories
which are in charge of the orders. They almost always avail themselves
of those same religious for that, because of the great lack of secular
priests. The religious submit to the visitation of the diocesan in
matters touching the erection of chaplaincies, charitable works, the
inspection of wills, and confraternities that are not exempt. They
resist only what includes the violation of their privileges granted
by the supreme pontiffs to the said holy orders for the purpose of
the propagation of the faith in regions so distant. Such privileges,
although not used in other parts of the Indias, ought to be maintained
in Philipinas, for reasons that will be stated below. This is what
has been observed from the discovery of the said islands until the
present time; and the contrary has not been ordered by the king as
patron, by the royal Council of the Indias, or by the apostolic see,
although they have had full knowledge of the cause. This method has
been practiced, both before and since the Council of Trent; and there
has been no change in it--not even since the year 1652, when special
provision regarding it was made for Nueva Espana and Peru; and it
was ordered that the missionary religious of those provinces should
receive collation and canonical institution from the ordinaries of
those countries, in order to continue their exercise as curas; and
that consequently they must submit to the visitation and correction
of the bishops in officio officiando et quoad curam animarum. [32] But
however thoroughly that was placed in execution in those kingdoms, it
could not be carried out in the Philipinas Islands; for there even the
reasons which influenced the exemption of the regulars are in force.

721. It is true that the bishops have always made the strongest efforts
to subject the parish priests who are religious to their jurisdiction;
but they have never been able to succeed in it, for the religious are
unwilling to accept the charge with that burden. The first bishop
of Manila and of all the islands, Don Fray Domingo de Salazar,
tried to establish that subjection. The Observantine Augustinian
fathers and the Franciscans made use of the means which prudence
dictated, in order to quiet their scrupulous consciences. Seeing
that nothing [else] was sufficient, they resigned their missions
before the governor, as vice-patron, protesting that they would care
for the conversion of th