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Buenaventura effected many religous reforms in FL
Source: The Governorship of Spanish Florida #122
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Moral’s ouster in 1737 gave Buenaventura the opportunity he needed to carry out many religious reforms in Florida. With alms contributed by the residents of Saint Augustine, he rebuilt the parochial church of San Francisco and secured new ornaments for the edifice. He also persuaded several small boys from the more pious families of the town to study Latin in order that they might assist him in the church choir during daily Mass, vespers, and festival-day communions. [Note 45: Auxiliary bishop of Cuba to king, 4/29/1736. In a series of letters of this date, Buenaventura recounted what he had accomplished in Florida.] AN399 As a stimulus to the mission program, he proposed teaching Castilian to the Indians. The multiplicity of Indian tongues, the scarcity of interpreters, and the penchant of the Indians for learning Spanish quickly had convinced Buenaventura that this was the only feasible program. For Spanish-speaking friars to learn the countless Indian dialects was, to him, an unrewarding and unnecessary task. [Note 46: Auxiliary bishop of Cuba to king, 4/29/1736.] To refurbish the hospital, the auxiliary revived an old assessment of six reales a year on the salaries of each of the soldiers of the military payroll. [Note 47: Auxiliary bishop of Cuba to king, 4/29/1736.] Buenaventura also gathered the children of Saint Augustine in the church three days a week to teach them long-neglected catechism. Children of the poor, who could not contribute to the bishop’s instruction, received similar lessons free from a Franciscan resident of the convent. In an attempt to improve the moral standards of the colony Buenaventura prohibited lewd dancing and gambling in local taverns. He also confirmed newly baptized Spaniards, Indians, Negro slaves, and free Negroes. [Note 48: Auxiliary bishop of Cuba to king, 4/29/1736.] In his ten years a resident auxiliary bishop, Buenaventura brought the colony out of its religious apathy. Through his efforts the church and the convent were rebuilt. By comparison his minor innovations, such as the choir boys in the church or saying the rosary in the streets of Saint Augustine on the afternoons of festival days, seem inconsequential; yet taken all together, his efforts added civilized amenities to the religious life of this rude frontier town. The auxiliary’s only failures were his inability to resolve the factional struggle among the Franciscans and to revive the mission program, but these were virtually impossible tasks. Able and diligent, Buenaventura proved willing to face poverty, apathy, and opposition from the governor in order to bring about a religious regeneration in Florida. (Tepaske GSF)
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