Church vs State in Spanish Manila

Fugitives from justice or persecution in olden times sought sanctuary in churches, where agents of the law were not allowed to chase after them. In cases of hot pursuit, one need not be inside the church to avoid arrest; holding onto the heavy knocker or ring of a church door was enough.

However, asylum was not absolute; it did not apply to treason or sacrilege. Writing last Wednesday’s column from old notes made me wonder why Hernando Guerrero, Archbishop of Manila, was arrested in his palace, the Arzobispado, rather than the Cathedral where he could have invoked the right of sanctuary. Rereading the sources revealed that among many disagreements the bishop had with Governor General Hurtado de Corcuera, the most contentious was sanctuary.

Francisco de Nava, a Spanish artilleryman, scandalized Manila by having an affair with Maria, his slave girl. Hearing of this, the bishop ordered Nava to resolve this occasion for sin by selling Maria, who eventually ended up in the service of Doña Maria de Francia. When Nava appeared at Doña Maria’s home to recover his slave, even offering to marry her, Doña Maria refused and sent him away with a beating. Nava stalked the slave girl and, seeing her on the street following the carriage of Doña Maria one day, he hugged her from behind and asked: “Do you remember me?” Maria answered in the affirmative. But when Nava proposed marriage, he was rebuffed by the slave, who preferred her present mistress to her former master. Blinded by rage, Nava pulled out a dagger and stabbed Maria dead. A commotion ensued; Nava ran and sought sanctuary in San Agustin church.

Pedro de Corcuera, nephew of the governor, was dispatched to take Nava from San Agustin and have him stand trial. The Augustinians refused, reasoning: “It was only a homicide, and the settlement of this question does not concern the governor.” The governor took this as an insult to his authority, and his nephew took it personally because Maria de Francia was his wife. First, San Agustin was surrounded, then Pedro de Corcuera defied sanctuary by searching the church, but left empty-handed. Doubling the soldiers around the church, the governor then declared that no one would be allowed in or out of San Agustin until Nava was surrendered to him.

To cut a long story short, Nava was found in the sacristy of San Agustin and taken into custody, prompting the provisor of the Arzobispado to demand the murderer’s return to San Agustin, on pain of censure and a suspension from all religious functions. Unfazed, the governor showed his contempt for the friars and the right of sanctuary by having Nava executed on Sept. 6, 1635, on hastily built gallows in front of San Agustin, probably today’s carpark.

Things came to a head in 1636. The governor ordered the bishop’s exile, and the bishop excommunicated the governor. What was the postscript to all these exciting events? The tables were eventually turned: Guerrero was restored to his see, while Corcuera was put through the residencia, or reckoning after his term of office, and was found guilty of numerous crimes. His property was confiscated, and he returned to Spain in chains.

It was said that before the bishop boarded the boat that took him to exile, he shook the dust of Manila from his shoes, picked up five pebbles, and threw them at the walls of Intramuros as a curse. One of the pebbles hit Pedro de Corcuera on the leg, the same spot where he would be wounded sometime later during a battle in Mindanao. All 50 soldiers who escorted the bishop to exile died within two years. The governor lost his brother Iñigo and two nephews: Juan de Corcuera, who died in a shipwreck off the Marianas; Pedro de Corcuera, his son; and his brother-in-law Pedro de Francia—making a Spanish friar remark that God made sure no branch of the Corcuera family was left to keep their name alive.

Church and state collided again in 1863, leading to the exile of Archbishop Felipe Pardo that year. But the worst spat involved Archbishop Francisco de la Cuesta and Governor Fernando de Bustamante, who also fought on the issue of sanctuary. After the governor ordered the imprisonment of the bishop, a church mob attacked the palace and murdered Bustamante in 1719.

President Duterte once predicted the end of the Catholic Church in 25 years. Perhaps he should review his history.

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