The clergy in New Spain: privileges and education

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the priestly state in New Spain was consolidated as one of the most prestigious and coveted professions. Being part of the secular clergy not only implied social recognition and access to a rich cultural life, but also granted legal privileges, economic benefits and possibilities for social advancement, especially for Creoles and second sons who were excluded from family inheritances subject to entailed by entailed estate. These privileges, which marked the social and political life of the viceroyalty, would be questioned and finally suppressed during the Reform War in the 19th century, when the Mexican State undertook a profound transformation against ecclesiastical power.

Secular clergy and religious orders: two different paths

Cabildos in New SpainIn New Spain there was a clear difference between the secular clergy and the religious orders. The secular clergy consisted of priests in charge of parishes, cathedrals and direct attention to the faithful, who could own goods and inherit property. On the other hand, members of religious orders – Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, Jesuits, among others – theoretically lived under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, without the right to maintain personal patrimony. While the secular clergy offered economic stability and the possibility of social advancement, life in an order implied community discipline, material renunciation and a greater demand for spiritual dedication. However, this was not always the case, as some religious orders also accumulated great power, political influence and extensive properties, becoming central players in the life of New Spain.

Secular clergy as a career of prestige

In New Spain, being a priest represented a path to social mobility in a rigidly hierarchical society. For Creole families of middle or high means, placing a son in the ecclesiastical career meant assuring him a dignified and stable future.

• The clergy offered a way for those who could not inherit property under the rules of the entailed estate.
• Being a clergyman was compatible with owning personal property, something that did not occur in the religious orders, where the vow of poverty limited the individual.
• In addition, it opened doors to canonries, prebends and major dignities, which meant secure income and prestige within the cathedrals.

Academic training and intellectual aristocracy

The path to the priesthood required years of studies in seminaries promoted after the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The novo-Hispanic cathedrals were concerned with establishing formation centers that ensured the theological and disciplinary preparation of future priests.
This resulted in the emergence of a Creole intellectual aristocracy, since the priesthood became a privileged path for those who aspired to culture, erudition and recognition.

The ecclesiastical jurisdiction: justice and special treatment

One of the main privileges of the clergy was the ecclesiastical privilege, which involved:

• To be judged only by ecclesiastical tribunals and not by ordinary civil justice.
• Access to special prisons for clergymen.
• Exemption from various burdens and obligations that were imposed on other sectors of the population.

This charter guaranteed protection and autonomy from royal and civil power, which consolidated the Church as a parallel power within the viceroyalty.

The economy of the priesthood: between rich parishes and prebends

The secular clergy could earn very different incomes:

• In wealthy parishes, priests administered tithes, alms and offerings, generating a comfortable economic life.
• Obtaining prebends or canonries in the cathedrals ensured life annuities.
• The clergy had the right to inherit property and maintain personal patrimony, which made them attractive to families with economic interests.

These economic benefits became part of the enlightened and liberal critique that, two centuries later, would question the accumulation of ecclesiastical wealth.

The indigenous priesthood and the classification of mestizos, mulattos, castizos, etc.

In the first years after the establishment of the viceregal regime, ecclesiastical and civil authorities coincided in denying indigenous people access to the priesthood. It was considered that the native peoples lacked the “cultural maturity” and doctrinal preparation necessary to administer the sacraments. This exclusion had a political background: to keep the indigenous people in a condition of tutelage and dependence, reinforcing the authority of the peninsular and Creole clergy.

With the passage of time, however, the social reality of New Spain led to a partial relaxation of the prohibition. Some indigenous people were able to enter seminaries and be ordained priests, although in small numbers and with limitations as to the positions to which they could aspire. The phenomenon was more visible in rural areas, where the lack of Creole or Spanish clergy forced the admission of local candidates.

The case of the so-called castes (mestizos, mulattos, castizos, etc.) was also complex. During the 16th and 17th centuries there were strong legal restrictions and racial prejudices, which appear in legal, ecclesiastical and viceregal administration texts that regulated the access of the castes to public and ecclesiastical positions. These discourses attributed, for example, to mulattos supposed “inclinations to vice” or to mestizos a “mixed blood” that made them inconstant in the faith. Nevertheless, throughout the eighteenth century, with the changes in New Spain’s society, clergymen of mestizo and even Afro-descendant origin began to appear, although almost always relegated to poor parishes or positions of lesser relevance.

Overall, this limited access to the priesthood for indigenous people and castes shows how the Church functioned both as a space of cultural inclusion -by offering education and a spiritual career- and of social exclusion, by reproducing the racial hierarchies of the viceroyalty.

Privileges and benefits lost in the Reform War

The privileges of the clergy in New Spain lasted until the 19th century, when the Reform Laws (1855-1863) radically transformed the relationship between Church and State. Among the most significant measures were:

• Suppression of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, obliging priests to be tried by civil courts like any other citizen.
• Nationalization of ecclesiastical goods, with which the Church lost estates, urban properties and sources of income.
• Separation of Church and State, which eliminated the direct interference of the clergy in politics and public administration.

Thus, the benefits that had made the priesthood a privileged path in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries disappeared, profoundly transforming the role of the clergy in Mexican society.

Conclusión

The clergy in New Spain was much more than a spiritual vocation: it was a path to prestige, social ascent and economic power. Legal privileges, ecclesiastical privileges and the possibility of maintaining their own patrimony made the priestly career one of the most attractive for Creole elites and second sons. However, these benefits would be strongly criticized and would end up being abolished with the Reform War, marking a before and after in the history of ecclesiastical power in Mexico.

Some important clarifications on the clergy and their privileges in New Spain

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