The United States in Puerto Rico, 1898-1900 by Edward J. Berbusse

Author:Edward J. Berbusse [Berbusse, Edward J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780807872970
Google: FYU6DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00ZVEZO2O
Goodreads: 52200220
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 1966-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

RELIGION

The matter of religion had never been a dormant issue in Puerto Rico, and it acquired a new look with the coming of the Anglo-American and Protestant government. Since a later chapter will be devoted to the religious problem from 1898 to 1904, this section is intended merely to outline the issues that had to be faced by the military governors and the reports that were influential in the congressional casting of the Foraker Act.

The handling of the available material on the religious practices of the people, the position of the church as a social agent, and its rights in transition from Spanish sovereignty to that of the United States are problems that are open to prejudice. At one extreme, the existent abuses were glossed over; at the other, generalizations were made from particulars and the testimony of biased witnesses was preferred. The problems that arose concerned the religious practices of the people, the marriage mores, church property, and military orders in the solution of church problems.

In his rather direct manner, Father Sherman labeled the condition of religion in Puerto Rico as “very unsatisfactory.” Though all the inhabitants were Catholic, most of the men were merely Catholic in name. Sunday was not observed, since the “stores are open, the country people gather into the villages, traffic is far more active on that day than on any other.” He found concubinage widespread and that the number of illegitimate children exceeded that of the legitimate.68 The Insular Commission found the same condition reported earlier by Father Sherman, but it went on rashly in the attributing of blame: “This condition has risen from the fact that the charges of the officers granting marriage permits, and of the priests for performing marriage ceremonies, were so exorbitant that the poorer people were unable to pay them.” The commission suggested that such cohabitation “in good faith be declared binding as a common-law (or civil law) marriage and the children legitimate” and that divorces be decreed by the courts for good cause, as allowable in the United States.69 Father Sherman had answered the criticism of the clergy: “It is often asserted that the Catholic clergy are partly to blame for this deplorable state of affairs because marriage is said to be expensive. This is a calumny. No charge has been imposed for ordinary marriage ceremonies and no obstacle thrown in the way of legitimate unions save the ordinary ecclesiastical impediments recognized by Catholics all over the world.” In further discussion with the priests of the island, he found that because of the union of church and state some priests became too interested in political matters; but he added: “there are many excellent priests in Porto Rico.”70

Dr. Carroll, writing in a Protestant missionary journal some time after his official report, summarized his impressions. He found the peasant superstitious and prone to mixing religion with gambling, such as the promising of a Mass to the Virgin if she would help with the selection of the right lottery ticket. Though

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