Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/601

Rh by the Mexican government. In 1861 there were in the republic, besides the prelates of the seven sees, the abbot of the Colegiata de Guadalupe, 13 provisores, 81 canons, 46 racioneros, and 13 masters of ceremonies, making together 154 ecclesiastical dignitaries; 64 vicarios foráneos, 1,468 parish priests, 72 capellanes de coro, 113 capellanes sencillos, aggregating 1,717, and a grand total of 1,871 priests, outside of the regular orders.

The secular clergy of Mexico have ever been the subject of remarks detracting from their respectability. The whole organization, and the manner of obtaining their revenue, as well as of performing their ministerial duties, have tended to nullify their prestige, and the veneration which should be, and is in many countries, felt toward ministers of the gospel. The revenue has been unequally and unfairly distributed; the country priests being poorly compensated, while the bulk of tithes, fees, and emoluments in the wealthy dioceses have gone to the high clergy, namely, bishops and chapters, and to keeping up splendor in the cathedral churches. The dioceses, as they were divided till the sixth decade of this century, were so extensive