diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

Without leave of the corresponding civil authorities, parish priests couldnot only not leave their parishes, but even travel to another province far fromthat in which his parish was located, nor go to the neighboring one to visit itspastor or receive the sacrament of reconciliation. "An unbearable burden,"wrote Fray Jose Miralles, Franciscan provincial, "which the most insignificantIndio does not bear."'" Joaquin de Coria had tasted this himself in1866 when going to. Tayabas from Manila to visit the parish, priest ofBinangonan before taking the boat for Spain after his appointment asCommissar and Procurator. He had no permit froni the government and wasdetained for a half-hour by the politico-military commander of the zone.The province was in need of reform too in order to free it from the legalexile it was suffering from the rest of the Franciscan order, thanks to its oldAlcantarine privileges, and allow their younger professed in the colleges inSpain a greater share in the internal affairs of the province. The newgeneration of Franciscans could infuse a new vigor into the spiritual andpastoral life of the Franciscans in the Philippines. But not finding a properchannel for their boundless energies, they worsened the internal split of theprovince, producing an alarming situation.The Arriaga and Pardo incidents we have summarized were not, by anymeans, isolated ones. Already in 1865, the former, together with FrayDomingo de la Rosa, Fray Jose Martinez, Fray Mariano Duran, FrayFrancisco Jimenez, and Fray Remigio Munoz, headed a letter addressed tothe Commissar and signed by 37 other Franciscans of the province, protestingagainst the manner of holding the provincial chapters and the marginalizationof the young friars although they were the majority.'In 1880 a group of young Franciscans submitted a simple exposition toRome, denouncing what they considered a serious internal decadence of theprovince,'" which resulted in the appointment of an Apostolic Visitor by theSacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious to investigate the truth ofthese friars' complaints.'" Fray Damaso Calvo and Fray Domingo Wertagain manifested their dissatisfaction with the way the Rule was observed inthe province of Saint Gregory in a letter to the Franciscan Minister General,Fray Bernadino de Portu Romantino," when they asked permission to workin the China missions.These documents are susceptible of two readings. First, thedenouncements would prove there were serious shortcomings in the provinceof Saint Gregory, a viewpoint which is not wrong. Second, they show thatthere was a rather important ferment of disquiet and a desire for change,170