Clerical Priests or Parish Priests Belonging to a Religious Order Barefoot Carmelite Priests’ Renunciation of Parish of San Sebastián, 1606

Abstract

The order of barefoot Carmelite monks in New Spain was different from the rest of the mendicants: they admitted mainly peninsular Spaniards and occasionally one or two Creoles. They encouraged contemplation rather than socializing and indoctrinating Indians, with their doctrinal performance lasting only from 1586 to 1607, since they abandoned the only doctrine they had in San Sebastian, serving mainly peninsular Spaniards, among others. It is for this reason-and the fact that they did not arrive until 1585- that historiography has depicted the Carmelites as being unaffected by the conflicts and aspirations of the rest of the regular clergy. Moreover, the distance they are reputed to have had from the interests of Franciscans, Augustans, Dominicans and Jesuits means that they have been portrayed as supporting the projects of the diocesan church. Nevertheless, their abandonment of the doctrine of San Sebastian is a good example of how, although the barefoot Carmelites were a reformed order with significant aspirations, they, like the other orders, fought to avoid being subjected to the lay clergy, a privilege they had enjoyed since their arrival in America.

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