Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos

Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos (March 21, 1816, Zamora, Michoacán — February 4, 1891, Oacalco, Morelos) was a Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, lawyer and doctor of canon law, and politician. He was a member of the imperial regency that invited Maximilian of Austria to accept the throne of Mexico. He entered the Seminario Conciliar of Morelia in 1830, where he was later professor and director. His classmates in the seminary included Clement... more

Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos (March 21, 1816, Zamora, Michoacán — February 4, 1891, Oacalco, Morelos) was a Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, lawyer and doctor of canon law, and politician. He was a member of the imperial regency that invited Maximilian of Austria to accept the throne of Mexico. He entered the Seminario Conciliar of Morelia in 1830, where he was later professor and director. His classmates in the seminary included Clemente Murguía, future archbishop of Michoacán, and Melchor Ocampo, future foreign minister of the Republic. Labastida was ordained in 1839. He soon became known as a conservative orator, preaching against all liberal and democratic ideas and against the Freemasons. He was a canon in Morelia in 1854. He opposed the doctrines of liberals Melchor Ocampo and Miguel Lerdo de Tejada from the pulpit, calling them heretical. After the triumph of the Conservatives and on the nomination of Antonio López de Santa Anna, in July 1855 he was consecrated bishop... less