Ottr Catholic Heritage in Texas
missionaries, because of the character of their work, were granted broad discretionary powers to enable them to exercise their ministry anywhere in America and the Philippines. These special powers were granted to them directly by the Pope and were confirmed by the Council of the Indies every ten or twelve years. The last time discretionary powers and privi- leges had been granted to all missionaries engaged in the propagation of the faith was on December 15, 1746, by Pope Benedict X, whose papal decree had been passed by the Council of the Indies on May 27, 1747. Under article 25 on faculties, powers, and privileges of missionaries, the Bull declared: "They shall have the right to administer all the sacraments, including los parroquiales ( those pertaining to parishes) with the exception of sacred orders." The consent of bishops or prelates was not necessary for the exercise of these powers in new provinces which had not been definitely assigned to a particular diocese. The governing council of the College of San Fernando expressed surprise at the question, there being no room they claimed, for such scruples as had been raised, because the powers were granted in general to all missionaries regardless of the religious order to which they belonged. This observation was an indirect slight to the Zacatecan friars in Nuevo Santander against whom the College of San Fernando held a grudge. It was admitted, however, that they could administer all sacraments except Holy Orders and act as parish priests with the permit granted them by their superiors. 72 Erection of tlze new Bishopric of Linares de Nuevo Leon, 1751-1779. This chapter cannot be closed without a brief sketch of the establishment of a new bishopric which took over the spiritual jurisdiction not only of Nuevo Santander, but of the entire Province of Texas as well. It was the experienced and far-sighted Marquis of Altamira who first suggested the advisability of erecting one or more bishoprics to look after the scattered and far-flung settlements along the northern and eastern frontiers of New Spain. In a long opinion rendered to the viceroy on November 27, 1751, in connection with the problems arising from the establishment of Nuevo Santander, he summarized the spiritual juris- diction of the remote outposts in the following words: "In view of all the facts presented, and that the frontier towns of Nuevo Santander in the Huasteca region, which belongs to the Bishopric of Puebla, are far distant from the seat of their diocese, the roads being ~scandon to the Viceroy, February 10, 1749, Dictamen Fiscal, March 22, 1749; Report of College of San Fernando, March 26, 1749. A. G. M., Provincias /nter11as, v. 29, pt. 2, pp. 312-325.
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