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Abstract

This image contains news that a pamphlet entitled "Laments of the people to their representatives" has been circulated, in which the author criticizes a bill on religious communities that is being discussed in the chambers. The author maintains that this law would reduce the monastic orders to a servile state by placing them under the immediate dependence of the archdiocesan prelate, whom he recklessly calls a "cruel and arbitrary despot," among other accusations driven by petty passions and personal resentments. The prelates of the communities affected by these accusations feel the duty to deny this defamatory production, which attempts to present itself as the voice of the people. This same people, who are invoked in the pamphlet, recognize in the metropolitan prelate a worthy, virtuous and enlightened pastor. The cloisters have never had cause for complaint against this prelate; On the contrary, he has always been sensitive to their problems, trying to alleviate them with the sweetness of his advice and the influence of his character. Under such circumstances, the regular clergy would have nothing to fear if they placed themselves under the immediate dependence of the lord archbishop, provided that the ecclesiastical laws prohibiting it were repealed. Perhaps this measure would not have the approval of some ill-advised religious, but that opposition would be an aberration, comparable to the betrayal of Judas in the apostolate, Luther among the Augustinians, Savonarola among the Dominicans, and Friar Elias among the Seraphics. The people are satisfied with the moral and religious conduct of the worthy prelate, pride of the Granada archepiscopal see. His evangelical speeches are proof of his opinions on the supremacy of the Pope and religious corporations. The prelate's respect and submission to the sacred canons and civil laws are unquestionable, following the precept of Jesus Christ and setting an example of virtue. The author of "Laments of the People" should calm down and not fear that virtue and knowledge represent a threat. In a free country, governed by democratic institutions and philanthropic laws like New Granada, no one fears the despotism, cruelty or extermination of the magistrates. The people, whose name is profaned in the pamphlet, have well formed their opinion about the virtues of the bishop, Dr. Manuel José Mosquera. News published in the newspaper on the day, No. 602, March 31, 1849.