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261
Withdrawal of Q11eretaran Missionaries from Tezas
Increasing b1'rden of the missionaries. From 1750 to 1767 there was an unusual expansion in missionary activity along the northern frontier of New Spain. The establishment of missions in the newly settled province of Nuevo Santander was followed by new missions in Texas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila. At the same time the formal occupation of Pimeria Baja (at present Sonora) was being pushed actively. Then new missions taxed the man power of the three colleges of propaganda fide of San Fernando, the Holy Cross of Queretaro, and Guadalupe of Zacatecas to their limit. In 1767 occurred the lamented expulsion of the Jesuit order from all the colonies of Spain. Unjustly accused of being a menace to t)le absolute power of the king of Spain and of having amassed fabulous wealth, their enemies succeeded in obtaining an order for their expulsion. Like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky the order was read to the astonished fol- lowers of St. Ignatius at the same time and hour throughout New Spain and they were given only a few days to gather their belongings before embarking at Vera Cruz. 3 The story of the expulsion and their sufferings does not form a part of our history. Other missionary orders, chief among them the Franciscans, were called upon to take over the missions formerly administered by the Jesuits. Burdened as they were already, it soon became evident to the provincial of the Franciscans in Mexico that the colleges of propaganda fide would be unable to supply missionaries for the missions. Attempted resignation of tlie missions in Pimeria Baja. Unwilling at first to withdraw from the missions in Texas, where they had labored faithfully for so many years, the missionaries of the college of Queretaro suggested to the Padre Proc1'rador (legal representative) in Mexico that he request permission from the viceroy to give up the seven missions entrusted to the college in Pimeria Baja. The Discretorio of the college explained that these missions had progressed sufficiently and were ready to be erected as parishes under a cleric. By being relieved from the care of these seven missions the college could undertake the conversion of the numerous tribes of Pimeria Alta, where the zeal of the missionaries could find better employment. The viceroy, while anxious to accede to the request, was reluctant to turn over the missions in Pimeria Baja to the administration of seculars. A formal inquiry revealed that the change proposed was premature.' 3 For a good account of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico in t 767 sec Cuevas, Historia de la Iglesia en Mexico, Vol. 4, Alegre, Historia, Vol. 3. 4 Arriclvlta, Cronica Serafica, pp. 437-438.
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