The number of baptized Indians in Mexico…

The number of baptized Indians in Mexico in 1536 was five million according to Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinia.

The multitude of Indians who have asked for baptism, said to have greatly increased after the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531, had forced the missionaries to adopt a special form for administering this sacrament.

The catechumens are arranged in order, with children in front.

Prayers are recited in common over all, salt, saliva, etc., applied to a few, and then water is poured on the head of each without using the customary holy oils or chrism.

The practice faced no opposition while the Franciscans were in charge of the missions, but as soon as members of other religious orders and some secular ecclesiastics arrived, doubt began to be cast upon the validity of these baptisms.

To put an end to the dispute Bishop Zumárraga has submitted the case to Rome, and on June 1, 1537, Pope Paul III issues the bull Altitudo divini consilii, which declares that the friars had not sinned in administering baptism in this form, but decrees that in the future it should not be thus administered except in cases of urgent need.

Another difficulty had arisen regarding marriage.

The pre-Columbian religions had permitted polygamy and the taking of concubines, and when Natives were converted the question arose as to which were legitimate wives and which were concubines, and whether any of the marriages had been valid at all.

The Franciscans know that certain rites are observed for certain unions, and that in some cases where separation or divorce is desired, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the authorities, while in other cases the consent of the interested parties suffices.

These customs, they argue, mean that there are valid marriages among the Indians.

Others deny that this was the case.

Bishop Zumárraga had taken part in all these discussions until the case was submitted to the Holy See.

Pope Paul III decrees in the Altitudo that the converted Indians should keep the first woman wed as their wife.