Juan de zumarraga biography of michael

No one was more suited to fill the task of bishop in these new lands than the kindly Juan de Zumarraga who was born in 1468 to a noble family....

This article examines the private life of Juan Zumarraga, the first bishop of Mexico, focusing on his close ties to relatives and fellow Basques.

Came the appointment of the Franciscan Juan de Zumarraga as bishop of Mexico, and he brought with him a significant number of books, which became the founda.

No one was more suited to fill the task of bishop in these new lands than the kindly Juan de Zumarraga who was born in 1468 to a noble family.

After he returned to Spain, he pursued a life of contemplation full-time.

The bishop of that time was Juan de Zumárraga (1468-1548), a Franciscan priest who was the first bishop of Mexico and would become its first archbishop shortly.

Zumárraga, Juan de

First bishop and archbishop of Mexico; b. Tavira de Durango, Vizcaya, Spain, c. 1468; d. Mexico City, June 3, 1548. Apparently while still young, he entered the Franciscan Order, taking the habit in the province of Concepción, of which he became provincial minister (1520–23).

Saint Juan Diego was born in 1474 as Cuauhtlatoatzin, a native to Mexico.

He was appointed first bishop of Mexico on Dec. 12, 1527.

By express order of Charles V, Zumárraga, as bishop elect but without episcopal consecration, embarked for Mexico, where he arrived Dec. 6, 1528. He immediately began to organize his newly established, extensive diocese, whose poorly defined limits extended from Michoacán and Jalisco on the northwest, up to and including Guatemala on the south.

The Franciscan and Dominican missionaries who worked zealously on the conversion of the natives were of invaluable assistance in this difficult task of organization. The spiritual needs of the conquistadors and Spanish colonists were entrusted to the secular clergy who