Note 15 — Chapter XIV · THE EXILE OF DAPITAN
Reading edition
He refers to the long contest between the orders and the part of the clergy (largely native) that was outside of the orders, called “the secular clergy.” What he means is to end the power of the orders to fill the parish appointments. In this conversation, Carnicero seems to be leading him to speak of the friars—the most perilous of topics. ↑