Pope Alexander VI granted to the Catholic monarchs of Spain the tithes from all colonies, conditional on the Kings being responsible for the evangelization of Indians, and funding and building churches.
Meanwhile Pope Julius II, by a privilege issued in 1508, granted Ferdinand the exclusive right of real control over the foundation and construction of all churches, monasteries and hospitals on American soil.
In contrast there was another trend, inspired by the royalist doctrine of the eighteenth century, who played the issue of patronage as a prerogative that the Holy See had granted to the Spanish nation and not the person of the king.
its first meeting, which decided that for the Mexican government to exercise that privilege, it would have to be obtained directly from the Holy See took place in March of that year.
Until 1855 it is considered patronage of fact; the Mexican government could intervene in the nomination of bishops, presenting a list of selected state priests.
In this situation, Pedro Pablo Vazquez, in his negotiations with Rome, focused its efforts on request that the Pope appointed bishops for vacant sees property, leaving aside the problem of the board; He is arguing that it was only a spiritual matter.
In 1831, after lengthy negotiations, Gregory XVI stronger than their predecessors, Leo XII and Pius VIII, and supported by its unconditional Secretary of State, Cardinal Luigi Lambruschini, appointed six bishops, including Pedro Pablo Vazquez dioceses were restored and seminars for 1851 increased the number of priests to 3,232.
Vazquez acted as de facto head of the Mexican episcopate until the consecration of Manuel Posada y Garduño as metropolitan archbishop of Mexico City in April 1840.
Thus, he acted quickly and Feb. 28, 1831, with just twenty days of his pontificate, he advocated six Mexican priests to occupy the headquarters of Puebla, Monterrey, Durango, Michoacán, Chiapas and Guadalajara.
Ignacio Valdivieso was an important representative of Mexico to the Holy See; it was he who accompanied Pope Pius IX in his exile in the fortress of Gaeta in 1849.
Before independence, Spain tried to regain New Spain, Fernando VII so pressured by the ambassadors in Rome to the Popes (Pius VII, Leo XII and Pius VIII); this pressure aimed Mexican Catholics faithful to realize that the independence of Mexico brought as a consequence that the Pontificate not appoint bishops holders for the country.
Pius VIII (1829-1830), in his brief pontificate of eight months would not offend Fernando VII and refrained from naming residential bishops, showing that he did not recognize the independence of Mexico.