The Catholic Church and Mexican independence

Abstract

One of the paradoxes of the Mexican Independence lies in the political behaviour of the church hierarchy, which first fought with great force against the independence revolution that began in 1810, and then, in 1821, changed its position and became a bulwark for the rupture of the colonial order. The purpose of this work is to explain this paradox through an examination of Bishop Antonio Joaquín Pérez Martínez, since he holds the key to explaining not only the attitude taken by the church towards Independence, but also the line of conduct followed by this institution during the first years of independent Mexico.