[German Version]

Precursors of the provincial councils of Mexico were the juntas (the most important in 1539) in which bishops and religious took part. In 1546 Paul III established the province of Mexico with the dioceses of Oaxaca (Antequera), Tlaxcala (Puebla de los Angeles (1519), Guatemala (1531); Chiapas, Michoacán, and Guadalajara (1548). The second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar, convened the first provincial council in 1555, which drafted initial regulations governing rights, duties, cate…