Cristóbal de Torres y Motones, OP (27 December 1573 – 8 July 1654) was a Spanish-born prelate of the Catholic Church in New Spain.

There, he was one of the first bishops in New Spain to admit indigenous people to communion, and he later founded Del Rosario University in Bogotá.

[2] In 1614, the bishop of Córdoba, Diego Mardones, a Dominican, admonished Torres for preaching a sermon supporting the position of St. Thomas Aquinas regarding the redemption and salvation of Mary.

[2] In 1627 he was appointed definitor for the Dominican Order's provincial chapter in Toro, the same year in which he wrote his well-known work, the Sermons of Saint Teresa.

[2] Conflicts had arisen between Torres' predecessor, Bernardino de Almansa Carrión, and the Marquis of Sofraga, the governor.

[2] It was in hopes of amending these unresolved disputes that King Philip IV chose Torres, a trusted member of his court, as the new archbishop.

He established the Academia de Santo Tomás in 1635, and brought the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God to administer the Hospital of San Pedro.

As early as 1637 and throughout his term as archbishop, Torres wished to create an institution of higher learning to address the absence of scholars and doctors in New Granada.

"[4]On 18 December 1653 the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario (English: Major College of Our Lady of the Rosary) was established and opened for the first time.

[2] The lawsuit lasted until after Torres' death and was settled by the Spanish king against the Dominican Order, thus maintaining the college's autonomy and tradition of educating lay students.