In addition to Las Casas and Valdivieso, the latter of whom was sojourning at the capital awaiting consecration as bishop of Nicaragua, there were now present at Gracias á Dios the prelates Marroquin of Guatemala, and Pedraza of Honduras.[XVII‑23] It was not of course to be expected that all these dignitaries of the church should work in harmony with each other, and much less with the members of the audiencia. While Las Casas and Valdivieso strove to enforce the unconditional liberation of all Indians, Marroquin and Pedraza, who themselves possessed several encomiendas, were exceeding loath to part with them; and when Las Casas threatened with excommunication all who should refuse to give up their bondsmen, Marroquin assured the settlers that he would grant them quick absolution. The removal of the latter was then demanded by his opponents, who wrote to the emperor denouncing him as "one undeserving of royal favor, having made his fortune at the expense of his honor and that of the people, in violation of the law and the emperor's orders." Pedraza, on the other hand, while discussing the question of establishing schools in the native villages, exclaims: "Would to God that to this purpose the efforts of Las Casas were applied, instead of to the general perdition of the province, his discourse being like that of one demented with rage, himself blindly covetous and ambitious of honor profane. For thirty years was he striving for a bishopric until at length he obtained one by the force of a hundred thousand lies."