[1] He was sent to New Spain in 1786, where he attended the Colegio San Francisco in Mexico City to train for missionary work among the Native Americans.
He then was assigned to Alta California, arriving in 1790, where he worked at the following missions: When the President of the Spanish missions in California, Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, O.F.M, died in 1803, Tapis took over as acting President, a post to which he was subsequently elected three times, holding the office from 1803 to 1812.
In addition to his authority over the missions, he also served as the local Rural Dean of the Diocese of Sonora which covered that region in that period, responsible for Church matters of any Catholic there.
Tapis retired as President in 1812 and was sent to assist Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta at Mission San Juan Bautista in 1815, where he hoped to educate the boys of the indigenous population.
The largest work is his writings in defense of the missions and their methods against the Captain of the Presidio in Santa Barbara.