Storia do Mogor 358.1
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 358.1
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358.1.1
After the Pastoral of Monsignor the Bishop of San Thome had issued, in which he accused us of having published the decrees without his permission, the reverend Father Michel Ange wrote him a quite civil and courteous letter, wishing to hear from his lordship's own mouth the assertion that he had given no permission for publishing the above-named decrees. His lordship, in reply to the letter of the reverend Father Michel Ange, wrote upon its margin the following words: 'I have given no permission to your Reverence, not even in thought, much less in words' (notice, gentlemen, the accusation). 'I said to you that you could publish the decrees of your own authority, just as you could publish any other order whatever that you liked within your church, without my permission and without anyone hindering you' (See here, gentlemen, our justification, and the most authentic permission that could be desired).
358.1.2
'For I did not issue the Pastoral to stop the decrees of the Sacred Congregation' (Notice here, gentlemen, the contradiction, since by a Pastoral his Lordship took away jurisdiction from the Capuchin fathers and gave it to the reverend Jesuit fathers, against whom the decrees were issued), 'but only to repress the audacity with which the reverend Father Spirito announced in his church that the reverend fathers of the Society [of Jesus] were not the parish priests of the Malabārīs, but that all those people belonged to his (Esprit's) parish' (Gentlemen, it was not the reverend Father Esprit who made this declaration, but the decrees which said so, as you will hear a little farther on), 'interfering in our jurisdiction in a matter which had been disposed of by the authority vested in me as bishop, under the sacred canons and the decrees of the Sacred Council of Trent, concerning the erection and the division of parishes according as I may believe the welfare of my flock requires.'
358.1.3
Gentlemen, I have certainly read the decrees of the Sacred Council of Trent, but I have never seen there that a bishop could withdraw a cure from the hands of a friar of one order and place it in those of religious of another. But to convince you, here are the very words of the Sacred Council of Trent, Chapter X., 'De Reformatione,' Sessio 14: 'Regularia beneficia in titulum regularibus professis provideri consueta, cum per obitum, aut resignationem, vel alias illa in titulum obtinentes vacare contigerit, religiosis tantum illius ordinis, vel iis qui habitum omnino suscipere, et professionem committere teneantur, et non aliis, ne vestem lino lanaque contextam induant, conferantur.' [Benefices of Regulars, which it has been the custom for professed Regulars to hold, when they happen to become vacant by the death of the titulary incumbent, or by his resignation, or otherwise, shall be conferred on religious of that order only, or on persons who shall be absolutely bound to take the habit and make that profession, and upon none others, that they may not wear a garment that is woven of woollen and linen together (Deut. xxii. 11).
358.1.4
It is quite true that in the same Council of Trent, Cap. 4, Sess. 21 [213], it may be read that when a congregation becomes so numerous that a single cure is not enough, then the bishop may order him to engage as many priests as he knows to be necessary to administer the sacraments and celebrate the Divine office. But not even here is it provided that the bishop may remove the legitimate pastor, particularly when he is leading an irreproachable life, and appoint another. 'Episcopi, etiam tamquam sedis apostolicae delegati, in omnibus Ecclesiis Parochialibus vel Baptismalibus in quibus populus ita numerosus sit, ut unus Rector non possit sufficere Ecclesiasticis Sacramentis ministrandis et cultu divino peragendo, cogant Rectores, vel alios, ad quos pertinet, sibi tot Sacerdotes ad hoc munus adiungere, quot sufficiant ad Sacramenta exhibenda, et cultum divinum celebrandum.' [In all parish churches, or those wherein baptism is administered, in which [churches] the people are so numerous that one rector is not enough for the administration of the sacraments of the Church, and for the performance of Divine worship, the bishops, even as delegates of the Apostolic See, shall compel the rectors, or others whom it may concern, to associate to themselves for this office as many priests as shall be sufficient to administer the sacraments, and to celebrate Divine worship.]
358.1.5
It is equally true that there is to be found in the same chapter a direction that in places where the dwellers in the parish live sufficiently far from the church to make it a great inconvenience to get there, the bishop may, 'etiam' (even) against the will of the cures, erect new parishes. But we do not find that when Christians all live in a city which is not particularly large any action of that kind can be taken. 'In iis vero, in quibus ob locorum distantiam, sive difficultatem, Parochiani, sine magno incommodo ad percipienda Sacramenta et Divina Officia audienda accedere non possunt, novas Parochias, etiam invitis Rectoribus, iuxta formam constitutionis Alexandri Tertii quae incipit "Ad Audientiam," constituere possint.' [But as regards those churches, to which, on account of the distance, or the difficulties of the locality, the parishioners cannot, without great inconvenience, repair to receive the sacraments and to hear the divine offices; the bishops may, even against the will of the rectors, establish new parishes pursuant to the form of the constitution of Alexander III., which begins Ad Audientiam.'] You gentlemen who live in Pondicherry, tell me, I conjure you, whether the Christians are so numerous that four Capuchin friars, all in priest's orders, are not sufficient. Tell me also, if you please, whether the distances between the places are so considerable that the Christians cannot get to church without great inconvenience.
358.1.6
The first of these is not true, for, including the French gentlemen, the Topasses (persons of mixed blood), and the Malabãrís (Tamils), there may be three thousand Christians, and at the outside that is the total number [214]. But, in addition to this fact, the second condition is even less true, and there is also another circumstance worth remembering. If the Lord Bishop of San Thome has taken the cure out of the hands of the Capuchin fathers and placed it in those of the reverend Jesuit fathers by reason of the distance between the places, which is the only ground of action that can be rightly adduced, the Christians are not relieved in any way by transfer to the reverend Jesuit fathers, whose church stands at the gateway of that of the Capuchins. If the Lord Bishop of San Thome had this object in view as his motive in removing the Capuchin fathers from their cure of the Malabãrís and making it over to the reverend Jesuit fathers, it seems to me that he ought to have erected new churches in addition to appointing new pastors, so as to deliver the parishioners from the inconveniences previously suffered by them, instead of forcing them to attend a church quite close to that of the Capuchin fathers, from whom his Lordship has taken the cure of the mission to the Malabãrís and transferred it to the reverend Jesuit fathers.
358.1.7
By this detail you can see, gentlemen, that they bring forward quite out of place the Sacred Council of Trent, since this proves to be opposed to the bishop's intention. But since the Lord Bishop of San Thome and the reverend Jesuit fathers allege the Sacred Council of Trent as the justification for their conduct, and as proof of the good grounds they had for taking away from the Capuchin fathers the said mission to the Malabãrís, I would beg them to tell me how it is necessary to understand those words, which you will find, gentlemen, in Caput 9, Sessio 25, 'De Reformatione,' where can be read in clear and plain words that cures and benefices, et cetera, which have been acquired 'per subreptionem' (clandestinely), and by illegitimate means, ought [215] to be replaced in the hands of those who previously possessed them. 'Quae vero [accessiones] a quadraginta citra annis factae, effectum, et plenam incorporationem sunt consectuae; hae nihilominus ab Ordinariis, tamquam a Sede Apostolica delegatis, revideantur, et examinentur; acquae per subreptionem, vel obreptionem' (Reflect well, gentlemen, on these terms, I beg of you) 'obtentae fuerint, simul cum unionibus irritae declarentur;
358.1.8
ac beneficia ipsa separentur et aliis conferantur.' [But as regards those augmentations which, having been made within the last forty years, have come into effect and complete incorporation, such shall nevertheless be reviewed and examined by the Ordinaries as the delegates of the Apostolic See, and those which shall be found to have been obtained by deceit or stealth shall, together with the unions, be declared invalid, and the benefices themselves shall be separated and be conferred upon other persons.] Therefore, if there ever has been a cure that has been taken away surreptitiously and by illicit means, it is the very one which has been taken from the Capuchin fathers and given to the reverend Jesuit fathers; hence, as a true inference, there never was a case which more legitimately calls for restoration of the cure to the Capuchin fathers than does that of Pondicherry. As it seems to me, gentlemen, it is impossible to inform you more clearly of the injustice which has been perpetrated, and which they continue to perpetrate in what concerns us, than by quoting to you the Sacred Council of Trent, adding thereto the chapters and sessions, whereby you can discover whether I quote incorrectly.