The general demand for reform at th

The general demand for reform at the time had its religious as well as its political aspects, and under the leadership of Father Burgos, the native clergy began to insist on their just rights and to demand that duly trained secular priests (priests who do not belong to the religious orders), most of whom were natives and who were discriminated against by the religious authorities, be again permitted to hold parishes, a right they had once enjoyed but which had been withdrawn. Father Burgos hereby made powerful enemies among the friars, and the cause made very little if any headway.