Antonio de los Reyes

Antonio de los Reyes (1729–1787) was the first bishop of the Catholic diocese of Sonora.

Biography

Antonio Vicente Gorgonio was born on September 11, 1729, in Aspe, Spain. His parents were Antonio Vicente de los Reyes and Josefa María Carrasco. He entered the Franciscan Monasterio San Ginés de la Jara in Cartagena on February 16, 1746. They landed in Veracruz that November, and de los Reyes made a circuit of the missions of the area before arriving at the monastery of Santa Cruz in spring 1765.

On August 17, 1780, the King appointed de los Reyes bishop of the newly created diocese of Sonora. He was approved by the papal consistory on December 11, departed from Málaga on March 20, 1782, and landed in Veracruz on August 5, 1782. On September 15, Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta consecrated de los Reyes as a bishop.

After a long journey over land, de los Reyes arrived in his new see of Arizpe on September 22, 1783, bearing a royal charter which declared the small town a city. After less than a month, de los Reyes petitioned for his see to be transferred to Álamos, where he took up residence towards the end of the year.

On January 31, 1784, José de Gálvez sent de los Reyes a letter instructing him to create a census of the missions of Northwestern Mexico for Charles III of Spain. De los Reyes worked on the census for a number of months with the help of Father Miguel Antonio Cuevas and a few other trusted individuals and sent the census to de Gálvez in mid September of 1784.

On March 6, 1787, de los Reyes died of a "malignant fever".