Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/62

 MASTER

made bv Pius V {29 July, 1570; see " Rullarium", V, 245) canon theologiiui of St. Peter's, but this Bull was n^voked bv his successor Gregory XIII (11 March, 1575). From the time when Leo X recognized the Roman University or"Sapienza" (5 Novcinlier, 151:!; by the Decree " I)um suavissimos") he traii.^ifcrrcd to it the old theological school of the papal palace. The Ma:sterof the Sacred Palace tx'carae the president of the new theological faculty. The other members were tlie pope's grand sacristan (an Augustinian), the commissary of the Holy Office (a Dominican), the procurators general of the five Mendicant Orders, i. e. Dominican, Franciscan (Conventual), Augustinian, Carmelite, and Servite, and the professors who suc- ceeded to the ancient Lectors of the Sacred Palace. Sixtus V is bv some regarded as the founder of this college or facultv, but he may have only given its definite form, lie is said to have confirmed the prerogative enjoyed by the Master of the Sacred Palace of conferring all degrees of philosophy and tlieologv. Instances of papal diplomas implying this power of the Master of the Sacred Palace occur in the "Bullarium" pnssim (e. g. of Innocent IV, 6 June, 1406). The presidential authority of the Master of the Sacred Palace over this, the greatest^ theological facultv in Rome, was confirmed by Leo XII in 1824. Since the occupation of Rome in 1870 the Sapienza has been laicized and turned into a state university, so that on the special occasions when the Master of the Sacred Palace holds an examination, e. g. for the pur- pose of examining all that are to be appointed to sees in Italv, or again of conferring the title of S.T.D., he does so," with the assistance of the high dignitaries iust mentioned, in his apartment in the Vatican. He IS also examiner in the concursus for parishes in Rome which are held in the Roman Vicariate. Before Eugene IV issued the Bull referred to above, the Master of the Sacred Palace was in processions, etc., the dignitarv immediately under the Apostolic subdea- cons, but when this pope raised the auditors of the Rota to the rank of Apostolic subdeacons, he gave the Master of the Sacred Palace the place immediately next to the dean who was in charge of the papal mitre. In 1655, Alexander VII put the other audi- tors of the Rota above the Master of the Sacred Palace. This Was done, according to Cardinal de Luca, solely because one white and black habit looked badly among several violet soutanes. One of the occasional duties of the Master of the Sacred Palace is performed in conjunction with the auditors of the Rota; namely to watch over the three apertures or "drums" through which during a conclave the cardinals receive all communications. In papal pro- cessions the Master of the Sacred Palace walks next to the auditors, immediately behind the bearer of the tiara. Though he has, as we have seen, gradually lost some of his ancient authority and rank, nevertheless at the

E resent day the Master of the Sacred Palace is a very igh otTicial. He is one of the three Palatine prelates (the others being the Maggiordorao and the Grand Almoner) to whom as to bishops, the papal guards present arms. He is always addressed, even by car- dinals, as " Most Reverend ". In the Dominican Order he ranks next to the general, ex-general, and vicar- goneral. He is ex-officio consultor of the Holy Office, prelate-consult or of Rites, and perpetual assistant of the Index. He is coasultor of the Biblical Com- mission, and is frequently consulted on various mat- ters by the pope as his theologian. His official audience occurs once a fortnight. The official apartment of the Master of the Sacred Palace was in the Quirinal, and until recently it contained the unbroken series of

Eortraits of the Masters of the Sacred Palace, from St. lominic down. These frescoes have been effaced by the present occupants of the Quirinal, but copies of them are to be seen in tlie temporary apartment of the Master of the Sacred Palace in the Vatican.

40 MATACO

llull,ir,„m (I r, Vlir (Rome, 17:iO-17-l); MSS. in Vali.

I, ., ,1 i. ,. and Minerva Archives; Antonws, Chroni — ,

jll I ..i\\; mAi,\END\, Annales Ordinis Prwdicatorum

,\ I ,1, i(, ■, I'oNTANA, Syliabus Magistrorum Sacri Palaiii ,)j,, i:,,ni,.. 1663); »k Luca, Romanai Curia Rclalio

,(,,; I (, ; ' CATALANU.S, De Magistro Sacri Palatii

I, ,ino (Rome, 1761); QliKTiF-EcH.tnD, Scriptor.

n ;. If,, rum (Paris. 1719); Caraffa, Dc Gi/mnmsio

(|;,Mii. |,M' i:-;.5-145; Rknazzi, Storia delV Universitii lio- miin.i !(<■ (liime 1S03-1S06), passim: MoitTiEn, Histoire dea Maitres Gf-nrraux de I'Ordrc dcs Frires Prfcheurs (Paris, 190;i. in progress); Battandieu, Annuaire Pont. Cath, (1901), 47.3-482. Reginald Walsh.

Master of the Sentences. See Peteu Lombard.

Mastrius, Bahtiiolomf.w, Franciscan, philo.sopher and theologian, b. near Forli, at Mcldola, Italy, in 1602; d. 3 Jan., 1673. He was one of the most prom- inent writers of his time on philosophy and theology. He received his early education at Ccsena, and took degrees at the University of Bologna. He also fre- quented the Universities of Padua and Rome before assuming the duties of lecturer. He acquired a pro- found knowledge of scholast ic philosc )phy and theology, being deeply versed in the writings ol Scotus. He was an open-minded and independent scholar. As a con- troversialist he was harsh and arrogant towards his opponents, mingling invective with his arguments. His opinions on some philosophical questions were fiercely combatted by many of his contemporaries and especially by Matthew Ferchi and the Irish Franciscan, John Ponce. When presenting the second volume of liis work on the '■Sentences" to Alexander VH, to whom he had dedicated it, the pope asked him where he had learned to treat his opponent Ferchi in such a rough manner: Mastrius answered, "From St. Augus- tine and St. Jerome, who in defence of their respective opinions on the interpretation of Holy Scripture fought hard and not without reason": the pope smilingly remarked, " From such masters other things could be learned". Ponce in his treatise on Logic holds that with qualifying explanations God may be included in the Categories. Mastrius in combatting this opinion characteristically says, "Hie Pontius male tractat Deum sicut et alter". Mastrius had a well-ordered intellect which is seen in the clearness and precision with which he sets forth the subject-matter of dis- cussion. His arguments for and against a proposition show real critical power and are expressed in accurate and clear language. His numerous C|Uotations from ancient and contemporary authors and various schools of thought are a proof of his extensive reading. His works shed light on some of the difficult questions in Scotistic philosophy and theology. His " Philosophy" in five volumes folio, his "Commentaries" on the "Sentences" in four volumes, and his Moral Theology "ad mentem S, Bonaventura" in one volume were all published at Venice.

Wadding-Sbaralea, Scriptmes ord. mm. (Rome, ISHo : loANNES A S Antonio, Bibliathcca univ. franc. (.Madrid, 1/ J.i); Theclus, Triumphus Seraphicus (Velletri, 1656); Franchini, BMiosofia di scrittori francescani (Modena, 1693); Hurter, Nomenclator.

Gregory Cleary.

Mataco Indians (or Mataguayo). — A group of •wild tribes of very low culture, ranging over a great part of the western Chaco region, about the head waters of the Vermejo and the Pilcomayo, in the Argentine province of Salta and the Bolivian prov- ince of Tarija, and noted for the clTorts made by Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries in their behalf in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The grou]) con- sists, or formerly con.sisted, of aliout :i clozen trilies speaking the same language with slight dialect ic (hlTer- ences, and together constituting a distinct Imgui.stic stock, the Matacoan or Mataguayaii, which, however, Quevedo suspects to be connect ei 1 wit h t he Guaycuran stock, to which belong the Toba, Mocob! and the famous Abipon tribes. Of the Matacoan group the principal tribes were the Mataco, Mataguayo, and Vejoz. At present the names in most general use