Tejano History
College Of Santa Cruz De Queretaro
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COLLEGE OF SANTA CRUZ DE QUERÉTARO. The College of Santa Cruz, the first institution for the propagation of the Catholic faith in America, was founded in 1683 in Querétaro, now capital of the state of Querétaro, Mexico, by Father Antonio Linaz de Jesús María of Mallorca, Spain, a Franciscan friar and prefect of all missions in the Indies. Of the original nineteen priests who founded the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, nine served in Texas: Antonio Casañas de Jesús María, Damián Massanet, Francisco Hidalgo,qqv Miguel de Fontcuberta, Francisco Esteves, Antonio Borday, Antonio Perea, and José Diez. Many other Franciscans who served in Texas also came from this college. Under its direction two other colleges were founded to send missionaries to Texas, the College of San Fernando de México and the College of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas.qqv After the expulsion of the Jesuits from New Spain, the College of Santa Cruz assumed the Jesuit missions in Sonora. In 1772, to offset that added burden, it withdrew its missionaries from Texas and turned the mission work in that province over to Zacatecas. The final transfer papers of the mission field were in the hands of the viceroy on March 10, 1773.
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Full article on the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online
Courtesy of the Texas State Historical Association.
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