Franciscan Desert Missionaries

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At the beginning of the 16th century, twelve were the first Franciscan friars in charge of evangelizing the Mesoamerican populations newly conquered by Hernán Cortés and his hosts. Their extraordinary missionary spirit allowed them, in a few years, to have a relatively comfortable life and with few evangelizing aspirations, so, in 1682, Fray Antonio Llinás, a Majorcan who joined the Franciscan province of San Pedro and San Pablo de Michoacán , managed to promote evangelization among nomadic groups in the northern part of New Spain.

In fact, Llinás managed to establish the Colegio de la Santa Cruz de Querétaro in the Novohispano Viceroyalty, with the aim of creating a center for religious renewal and pastoral activity, backed by the pontifical authority of the King of Spain, of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide and of the order of San Francisco.

One of the functions performed by the father general commissioner of missions was to visit the Apostolic Colleges, both in Spain and in America, in search of vocations to mission. The author points out that the father general of missions focused his attention on the candidates who distinguished themselves as physically and psychologically strong people to perform their work in extreme conditions; In addition, they had to be relatively young (between 22 and 30 years old) and have a solid ecclesiastical formation. But why should missionaries possess these qualities? This was due to the clear dependence on the real stipend by the Fide Propaganda Seminars, so that those recruited should be the result of a good investment, since the company that was waiting for them in the New Spain lands was most of the time not easy. Therefore, the Crown provided the per diem from the moment the candidates were recruited.

Therefore, the missionaries were expected to fulfill their part of the contract. For this, the president of missions received the exact amount so that they arrived well to the respective school that had recruited them. Once there - stipulated the Innocent Statutes - one had to spend at least one year of probation to mission and also to complete ten years or more evangelizing in the missions. When that time limit was met, they returned to Spain or joined the province of Novohispana they wanted. However, they should express their wish to the guardian and parents of the discretionary. Then, the prelates evaluated whether the parents had fulfilled their obligation. If so, they were finally issued an official certification.