Church Catholic Church Died 1571 Predecessor None Successor Diego de Landa | Nationality Spanish Consecration May 24, 1562 Name Francisco Toral | |
Diocese Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatan | ||
Francisco de Toral, O.F.M. (1502–1571) was a Franciscan missionary in New Spain, and the first Bishop of Yucatán.
De Toral was ordained a priest in the Order of Friars Minor. On November 19, 1561, Francisco de Toral was appointed by Pope Pius IV the first bishop of the Diocese of Yucatán and consecrated bishop on May 24, 1562 by Sancho Díaz de Trujillo, Auxiliary Bishop of Plasencia, with Fernando de Villagómez, Bishop of Tlaxcala, and Juan de Vaca, Bishop of the of Panamá, serving as co-consecrators.
As part of his effort to Christianize the Indians of New Spain, Toral learned to speak the Nahuatl and Popoloca languages, and compiled a dictionary and grammar of the latter. He also charged Bernardino de Sahagún with the creation of the Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España. In Yucatán he led an investigation into the alleged abuses of the Maya by Diego de Landa, employing Gaspar Antonio Chi as his interpreter; Landa would eventually be acquitted, and follow Toral as Bishop of Yucatán. He claimed that crosses were being burned, and human sacrifices were made in church. In the end, Mayans were considered innocent, based on the lack of proof. Francisco de Toral served as Bishop of Yucatán until his death on April 20, 1571.