Note 15 — Letter Written by a Citizen of Manila to an Absent Friend (continued 2)

Reference is here made to a long and vexatious controversy over the spiritual jurisdiction of Santa Cruz and Quiapo, between the Jesuits and the diocesan authorities; it was settled in favor of the Society, but not until 1678. See Murillo Velarde’s account of this dispute, in his Historia, fol. 89 verso-91. Cf. Colin’s Labor evangélica (ed. 1663), p. 813; and La Concepción’s Hist. Philipinas, pp. 281, 286. Santa Cruz is on the shore of the Pasig River opposite Manila; above it lies Quiapo, and below it Binondo (an island formed by two bayous from the Pasig). As previous documents have often mentioned, Binondo was inhabited chiefly by the Chinese, as also was Santa Cruz.