PF minutes, 1674-06-26, Rome

PF minutes, 1674-06-26, Rome

Barbary (unspecified or several locations)

Other secular missionaries

Minutes of PF general meeting of 26 June 1674. The cardinals discussed among other issues the case of Marcello Costa, who was named missionary and provicar in Tunis, at the PF meeting of 28 February 1673. The missionary patents and the prevision of 30 scudi were also given to Jean Le Vacher. From the letter that Costa wrote on 29 January it becomes clear that Le Vacher gave the money directly to Costa, despite being instructed to give it to him only after a year of service. This was necessary because Costa had worked for 8 years in several missions without receiving any payment. He was also in debt, due to having to personally pay for his travel expenses to reach each mission assigned to him. For these reasons Le Vacher agreed to give him the money. Costa also says to have served in Tunis on his own; even though there are four slave priests in the city, Costa works on his own, as for different reasons, none of these priests are able to work. Costa is also afraid that they will lose Le Vacher, because he is suffering from spasm in one of his legs, which is about to be amputated. In his first letter, Costa wrote that the Capuchin Fathers had not reached their destination, however in another letter dated 12 April, he writes that Carlo d'Ancona and Vicenzo Da Frascati, the Capuchin Fathers, have arrived in Tunis. In the same letter he also writes that Le Vacher has already given him his patent as provicar in Bizerte, for the duration of three years, of which he sents a copy and asks for a confirmation. He also asks PF to prolong his provision of 24 scudi for three years, with another 5 years due to his harsh financial problems. The cardinals agreed to both requests.

c

Additional comments

PF

APF ACTA 44, 170r, 185v-186v, issue 39

1674-06-26

For the first letter of Marcello Costa discussed in this PF meeting, see: APF SOCG 448, 140r-v, 145r-v (database item 779).
For the second letter of Marcello Costa discussed in this PF meeting, see: APF SOCG 448, 141r-v (not yet in this database).

Latin

Italian

Minutes

672

Origin: Rome

Destination: