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Confesionario: Avisos y Reglas Para Confesores | by Bartolomé de Las Casas | A Translation and Introduction to Its Historical Context and Legal Teaching | A thesis by David Thomas Orique, O.P.

IV. INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL TEACHING IN HIS CONFESIONARIO: AVISOS Y REGLAS PARA
CONFESORES [1]

When the severity of the law is to be softened,
let pity, not bribes, be the motive.[2]

In the previous chapter it was asserted that the purpose of Las Casas’ Confesionario (Doce Reglas and Adición de la Primera y Quinta Reglas) was to demand restitution for the sake of justice. This chapter will introduce the key legal principles he employs in his Confesionario to make his case for this burning passion of his life’s work. Las Casas cites a number of references to build his argument, but instead of any significant consideration of these sources this chapter only will introduce the structure of the legal principles of his Confesionario. Any comment on his sources will be done to aid the primary purpose of this chapter, which is to extract in an orderly way the legal principles Las Casas uses rather than to offer any significant interpretation of their implementation. Any substantive analysis of his sources and their underlying legal principles is beyond the scope of this particular thesis, although an examination of both would be a worthy project. Therefore, this chapter is a survey and exposition of the legal framework of his Confesionario, providing an introduction to the English translation in the following chapter.

As mentioned, his Confesionario can be considered twice, appearing at two different moments of his life and on both sides of the Atlantic. Between 1547 and 1552, a transitional moment in his life, Las Casas produced two versions of this highly controversial tract. This work reflects both the intelligence and maturity of his thought. These combined with his time-tested experience in the Americas and Spain, made his Confesionario a potent tool in its day. The first written manuscript of the Doce Reglas appeared in Mexico in 1547, but it is believed all these versions were destroyed. The second printed tract of the Doce Reglas, combined with the Adición de la Primera y Quinta Reglas, was produced in 1552.[3]

The following survey and exposition of the legal framework of this tract will be sequential: first the Doce Reglas will be examined and then the Adición de la Primera y Quinta Reglas will be considered.[4] This method will provide an orderly presentation of the legal framework of both parts of his Confesionario; and since the printed Doce Reglas are considered the same as the original manuscript, it will offer a glimpse of how Las Casas further develops his ideas in his response to critics in the Adición de la Primera y Quinta Reglas.[5]

A. Argument for Restitution

Las Casas is clear throughout his Confesionario that restitution is the means by which justice is to be reestablished; in fact, it is the ubiquitous theme of this tract and his life’s work. In both the Doce Reglas and the Adición de la Primera y Quinta Reglas this message is clearly communicated.[6] He is seeking to remedy the tremendous injustices committed against the Indians in the Americas. In the Doce Reglas, each page of the edited Spanish version refers to making restitution for the injuries committed against the Indians.[7] Likewise nearly every page of the Adición de la Primera y Quinta Regals also makes clear reference to restitution.[8] Las Casas initiates his argument for restitution by saying on the first page of the tract that confessors are obligated to demand that penitents make a legally binding pledge to make restitution before receiving absolution.[9] Even more, he requires penitents to make this pledge prior to entering the sacrament.[10] This ambitious effort is noted by Carlos Josaphat Pinto de Oliveira, O.P., who points out that Las Casas’ effort as bishop, his insistence on making restitution for the sake of justice, is synthesized in terms of his Confesionario:

Las Casas develops a novel use of the sacrament of confession, one that reflects the historical currents of the XVI century. Las Casas wanted to affirm and to concretize in practice the social dimension of the Christian life and therefore of sin and of reconciliation. For Las Casas justice is the fundamental obligation of restitution and of the reparation that it imposes, one that must have a double dimension: personal and social. Las Casas uses his Confesionario to combine both the personal and social dimensions of the sacrament.[11]

Notes

[1] All references to both parts of the Confesionario are from the Obras Completas Ed. Ramón Hernándes, O.P. and Lorenzo Galmés, O.P. , vol. 10, Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1992. To aid the reader, these page numbers will also be indicated on the English translation.

[2] Don Quixote’s advice to Sancho Panza, in Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), Don Quixote, pt. 2. 6 ch. 9 (1615; trans. P. Motteux), The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, 1998, s.v. “Cervantes.”

[3] Although he wrote his Confesionario in Spanish he was certainly capable of providing a Latin version, if it had been requested of him.

[4] This sequential analysis follows the order of the printed document.

[5] Henry Raup Wagner, states: “I believe that the twelve rules Casas himself afterwards published were identical, since he says they were written in the Indies and he prints this later ‘clarification’ as an appendix.” Wagner with the collaboration of Parish, The Life and Writings of Bartolomé de las Casas, 167. Also, I would add that this assumption seems reasonable, since Las Casas resigned his position as bishop in 1500 (See Parish, Las Casas as Bishop, xxi-xxii), but printed his Confesionario in 1552; therefore it would seem unlikely that he would print that he was bishop after he had resigned, unless he had written these rules while he was still bishop of Chiapas. This could imply that he had a copy that had not been confiscated and destroyed and this could possibly be found in the future. It was argued on pages 36-37 above that the printed version of the twelve rules is the same as the written manuscript.

[6] In his Doce Reglas and the Adición de la Primera y Quinta Reglas Las Casas’ argument for restitution is supported by his pointing out the just and unjust factors associated with the goal of his Confesionario. Las Casas, Obras Completas, 10: Doce Reglas: 375, 377, 378; Adición de la Primera y Quinta Reglas: 382, 384,386.

[7] See Las Casas, Obras Completas, 10:370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378.

[8] Ibid.,10:378, 379, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386.

[9] It is necessary to point out an important feature of confession. The sacrament possesses an inviolable nature; that is, anything discussed in the internal forum is not to be discussed in the external forum. In part of his Confesionario, Las Casas made it a requirement prior to entering into the sacrament of confession (internal forum) that any penitent holding Indian slaves and/or benefiting from them had to have drawn-up a legally binding document to make restitution for these injustices committed. In other parts of his Confesionario he requires the penitent to make the pledge before receiving absolution. Las Casas’ method preserved the seal of confession, since he made the righting of this unjust situation an entrance or exit requirement of confession. This was a controversial approach, as demonstrated by the reaction of his detractors.

[10] Las Casas, Obras Completas, 10: 369-370.

[11] Pinto de Oliveira,. Las Casas: Todos os Direitos Para Todos, 127-128.

IV. INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL TEACHING IN HIS CONFESIONARIO: AVISOS Y REGLAS PARA CONFESORES [1]

When the severity of the law is to be softened, let pity, not bribes, be the motive.[2]

A. Argument for Restitution

Notes

IV. INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL TEACHING IN HIS CONFESIONARIO: AVISOS Y REGLAS PARA
CONFESORES [1]

When the severity of the law is to be softened,
let pity, not bribes, be the motive.[2]