﻿Vol.2] 
  COLONIAL 
  QUECHTJA 
  — 
  KUBLER 
  403 
  

  

  unless 
  it 
  displayed 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  canonical 
  books 
  of 
  Holy 
  Scripture 
  

   as 
  revealed 
  by 
  the 
  Holy 
  Ghost; 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  traditions 
  of 
  the 
  

   Church 
  as 
  codified 
  by 
  the 
  Council 
  of 
  Trent; 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  articles 
  

   of 
  faith 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  Credo; 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Pater 
  Noster 
  and 
  

   the 
  Commandments. 
  Among 
  the 
  Indians, 
  these 
  teachings 
  were 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  confused 
  and 
  perverted. 
  For 
  instance, 
  the 
  Indians 
  commonly 
  

   held 
  the 
  Trinity 
  as 
  three 
  divisible 
  and 
  separate 
  persons. 
  The 
  Father 
  

   was 
  not 
  infrequently 
  regarded 
  as 
  older 
  than 
  the 
  Son. 
  A 
  natural 
  con- 
  

   fusion 
  arose 
  when 
  the 
  Indians, 
  to 
  the 
  horror 
  of 
  the 
  clergy, 
  identified 
  

   the 
  material 
  fabric 
  of 
  the 
  Church 
  with 
  its 
  mystic 
  substance, 
  or 
  when 
  

   God 
  was 
  identified 
  with 
  some 
  temporal 
  monarch, 
  and 
  confused 
  with 
  

   the 
  King 
  of 
  Spain. 
  Yet 
  the 
  clergy 
  regarded 
  these 
  errors 
  as 
  anything 
  

   but 
  heretical, 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  ignorance 
  of 
  the 
  spirits 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  

   arose 
  (Pena, 
  1698, 
  pp. 
  268-85) 
  and 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  imperfections 
  of 
  

   instruction. 
  

  

  Catholicism 
  became 
  a 
  functioning 
  part 
  of 
  Quechua 
  life 
  when 
  the 
  

   Indians 
  accepted 
  Christianity's 
  system 
  of 
  divine 
  essence. 
  The 
  sur- 
  

   vivals 
  of 
  Quechua 
  ritual 
  and 
  the 
  doctrinal 
  errors 
  or 
  confusions 
  men- 
  

   tioned 
  just 
  above 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  taken 
  as 
  proofs 
  that 
  the 
  Indians 
  rejected 
  

   Catholicism. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  the 
  cardinal 
  question 
  is 
  always 
  that 
  

   of 
  divine 
  essence. 
  As 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  huacas 
  partook 
  of 
  divinity, 
  their 
  

   worshipers 
  were 
  not 
  Christians. 
  In 
  the 
  moment, 
  however, 
  when 
  

   divinity 
  forsook 
  the 
  components 
  of 
  Quechua 
  religion, 
  that 
  religion 
  

   ceased 
  to 
  exist, 
  however 
  vigorously 
  the 
  veneration 
  of 
  the 
  huacas 
  and 
  

   other 
  cult 
  objects 
  may 
  have 
  continued. 
  Ever 
  since 
  the 
  mid-1 
  7th 
  

   century, 
  Quechua 
  religion 
  has 
  been 
  Catholicism, 
  although 
  its 
  ritual 
  

   texture 
  still 
  preserves 
  innumerable 
  intact 
  constellations 
  of 
  pre- 
  

   Conquest 
  observances. 
  

  

  The 
  Catholic 
  clergy— 
  The 
  Christianization 
  of 
  the 
  Quechua 
  was, 
  in 
  

   many 
  respects, 
  the 
  most 
  profound 
  change 
  wrought 
  in 
  Quechua 
  life 
  

   during 
  the 
  Colonial 
  era. 
  At 
  no 
  point 
  can 
  it 
  have 
  been 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  

   occurred 
  without 
  the 
  direct 
  interference 
  of 
  European 
  clergy, 
  whether 
  

   regular 
  or 
  secular. 
  

  

  In 
  1569, 
  the 
  total 
  number 
  of 
  priests 
  and 
  friars 
  resident 
  in 
  the 
  Vice- 
  

   royalty 
  of 
  Perti 
  was 
  about 
  350, 
  distributed 
  among 
  477 
  repartimientos 
  

   (Anonymous, 
  1889, 
  p. 
  172). 
  The 
  estimated 
  need 
  at 
  that 
  moment 
  

   was 
  for 
  some 
  1,500 
  curates, 
  and 
  in 
  Mexico 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  a 
  smaller 
  total 
  

   population 
  was 
  served 
  by 
  many 
  more 
  spiritual 
  ministers. 
  In 
  1583, 
  

   accordingly, 
  it 
  was 
  resolved 
  in 
  the 
  Ecclesiastical 
  Council 
  held 
  in 
  Lima 
  

   that 
  each 
  curate 
  should 
  serve 
  no 
  more 
  than 
  200 
  to 
  300 
  families 
  (Tovar, 
  

   1873, 
  pp. 
  445-46; 
  Levillier, 
  R., 
  1919 
  a, 
  pp. 
  273-415). 
  This 
  optimum 
  

   ratio 
  was 
  never 
  uniformly 
  achieved, 
  but 
  by 
  1638, 
  the 
  total 
  number 
  

   of 
  active 
  curates 
  had 
  been 
  increased 
  to 
  a 
  point 
  at 
  which 
  the 
  average 
  

   parish 
  contained 
  about 
  358 
  families 
  (Vazquez 
  de 
  Espinosa, 
  1942, 
  

   pp. 
  22-58). 
  

  

  