Francisco de Aguiar y Seijas

Francisco de Aguiar y Seijas y Ulloa (11 February 1632, Betanzos, La Coruna - 14 August 1698, Mexico City) was a Spanish cleric and bishop, notable as bishop of Michoacán and archbishop of Mexico.

The son of Alonso Vázquez de Seixas y Lobera, regidor perpetuo of the city of Betanzos, and his wife Mariana de Ulloa, he initially studied at the Latin cathedral in Betanzos. On his father's death, he came under the protection of Fernando de Andrade, archbishop of Santiago, serving him as a page. He studied at the university of Santiago de Compostela and became its rector between 1668 and 1674. He was a magistral canon of the cathedral of Astorga. On 8 March 1666 he gained the office of canon penitentiary of the cathedral in a fierce competition with seven opponents. He studied in the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca of the University of Salamanca and was professor of philosophy and rector of the institution. Charles II of Spain presented him to be bishop of Guadalajara in Mexico in 1677, but he never took possession.

On 20 August 1677 he was named bishop of Valladolid de Michoacán, now the Archdiocese of Morelia. He embarked at Seville to sail to America on 14 July the same year. He only remained in office for three yers until in 1680 pope Innocent XI made him archbishop of New Spain, now the Archdiocese of Mexico. He was enthroned in his cathedral on 2 January 1682 and one of his first acts was to found and build the Conciliar Seminary of Mexico - until then most priests serving in Mexican parishes were Spanish and had trained back in Spain itself. On 1 October he declared the College complete and on 18 October he formally opened and blessed it. He also constructed several charitable institutions, including several free schools for poor children, a hospital for the mentally ill, the college of San Miguel de Belén, the Casa de Misericordia and Hospital de la Magdalena for prostitutes and a house of meditation for poor virgins. On 26 March 1695 he also demolished and began the reconstruction of the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, only completed in 1709.

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