The College of San Fernando de México was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Franciscan missionary

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

, or

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

(''Colegio Apostólico''), founded in Spanish colonial

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

by the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

on October 15, 1734. The institution was established to provide specific training for priests who were to work among the indigenous populations within the Spanish colonial

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, located in present-day

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

Notable alumni

* Gregório Amúrrio *

Narciso Durán Narciso Durán, OFM ( Catalan: Narcís Duran; December 16, 1776 – June 4, 1846) was a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary. Durán arrived in California in 1806 after studying briefly at the missionary College of San Fernando de Mexico. He ...

* Vicente Fustér * Luís Jayme *

José Joaquin Jimeno Father José Joaquin Jimeno (30 November 1804, Mexico City – 14 March 1856, Santa Barbara, California) was a Spanish missionary to the Americas. Father Jimeno is known to have traveled with Father Mariano Payeras to San Jacinto, a distant ...

* Pablo de Mugártegui * Vicente Pascual Oliva *

Francisco Palóu Francisco Palóu (, ; 1723–1789) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary, administrator, and historian on the Baja California Peninsula and in Alta California. Palóu made significant contributions to the Alta California and Baja California miss ...

Mariano Payéras Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana. It is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius, and Marius derived from the Roman god Mars (see als ...

* Andrés Quintana *

José Bernardo Sánchez José Bernardo Sánchez (September 7, 1778 – January 15, 1833) was a Spanish missionary in colonial Mexico and Alta California. Early life Born in Robledillo de Mohernando, Old Castile, Spain, Sánchez became a Franciscan on October 9, 179 ...

Vicente de Santa María Father Vicente de Santa María (1742 – July 16, 1806) was a Spanish Franciscan priest who accompanied explorer Juan de Ayala on the first Spanish naval entry aboard the ''San Carlos'' into the San Francisco Bay. Born in the village of Ara ...

José Francisco de Paula Señan Father José Francisco de Paula Señan (March 3, 1760 – August 24, 1823) was a Spanish missionary to the Americas. Life He was born in Barcelona, Spain and entered the Franciscan Order in 1774. In 1784 he was incorporated in the missionary ...

Junípero Serra Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer (; ; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784), popularly known simply as Junipero Serra, was a Spanish Roman Catholic, Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Francis ...

* Buenaventura Sitjar

External links

JSTOR: ''The Americas'', Vol. 5, No. 1 (Jul., 1948); pp. 48-60; "The Franciscan "Mission" to San Fernando College, Mexico, 1749"

References

Christianity in Mexico City Colonial Mexico Schools in Mexico City Franciscan universities and colleges Missions in Mexico Catholic seminaries Seminaries and theological colleges in Mexico 1730s establishments in Mexico 1734 establishments in the Spanish Empire Junípero Serra {{Catholic-seminary-stub

Notable alumni

See also

External links

References