We are proud clericalists, in all good senses of the word: this is why we celebrate the beatification, on June 5, of Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, a good, honorable, and holy man, Bishop of Tlaxcala (Puebla de los Ángeles, where he remained, refusing his nomination as Archbishop of México), former Councillor of the Consejo de Indias (position which he left when he decided to become a priest), prolific writer, and viceroy of New Spain (already as Bishop of Tlaxcala-Puebla).
Undermined in his ecclesiastical authority by powerful laymen, other bishops, a misinformed Holy See, and particularly by contentious religious orders - especially the Society of Jesus, whose dislike for Palafox stalled for centuries even the process of his beatification -, Palafox was blocked at every turn in his attempts to properly administer his American diocese of the Angels (which at the time covered a considerable part of New Spain, including most of the current states of Puebla, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Tabasco, Hidalgo, and Guerrero). He ended his years as Bishop of Osma, Spain, where his holiness was admired by all. He also left many admirers of his deep devotional life in New Spain.
[Short biography in the Catholic Encyclopedia. / Interesting reference to the library he founded in Puebla, in 1646, the Biblioteca Palafoxiana: the first public library of the Americas./ Interesting personal testimony of Fr. Francisco Lorente, who was his confessor and secretary, regarding his devotional life and his intense love for Holy Mass - in Spanish.]
