Born in Michoacán, he studied canon law at the Colegio de San Nicolás and the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico.

Lopez was a close ally of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide, residing in Madrid for four years as his attorney and political informant, and accompanying him during his exile to Italy and England.

Following Iturbide's execution in 1824, Lopez moved to the United States with the exiled Empress Ana María and her children and settled in Washington, D.C.

José Antonio López was born on October 4, 1779, in Cotija, Michoacán, in New Spain, located today in Mexico.

[3] López attended first the Colegio de San Nicolás, and then the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, where he received a bachelor's degree in canon law.

As a result of his familiarity with Huarte, López was appointed chaplain to Iturbide's counter-revolutionary army, and later the interim priest in Tingüindín, Michoacán.

[4] Upon Iturbide's exile from Mexico in 1823, López accompanied the imperial entourage, including the emperor's eight children, to Livorno, Italy.

[7] López accompanied them to New Orleans, where they resided for several months, before traveling north to Baltimore and then settling in the city of Georgetown in the District of Columbia.

[15] Following the death of William McSherry, Lopez was named president of Georgetown College on January 1, 1840,[3] in an acting capacity,[16] with the expectation that the provincial superior would soon appoint a permanent successor to relieve him of this post.