Political theology and essential factors in the development of the mexican ecclesiastical province: A proposal from the relations of visita ad limina apostolorum: 1585-1800

Abstract

The article proposes that in the genesis that drove the maturation of the clerical structures in the Mexican ecclesiastical province, there are four essential factors, specifically: The autonomy of the territorial ecclesiastical expansion; the social and political role of the cathedral chapters; the complex development of a school, middle and higher education system; and, the unprecedented development of the Marian religious character, which basis were two traditions of the cult of Mary: The Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the virgin. The research is based on the review and systematization of information from leading sources, such as the Ad Limina Visitor's Reports sent by this province's bishops to Rome. The study highlights the political theology in ecclesial development, which defines political society as the expression of the secular and ecclesiastical sphere's uniqueness. These make emerging the dominium of the ecclesia, in this case, Church and Monarchy, which was channeled and made tangible through the articulation of the Council of Trent's reforms with the employers' laws.