Eulogio Gregorio Clemente Gillow y Zavala was the first archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antequera, Oaxaca The Archdiocese of Antequera, Oaxaca () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Mexico. The cathedral church is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in the episcopal see of Oaxaca. It was erecte ...

located in

Oaxaca de Juarez Oaxaca de Juárez (), or simply Oaxaca (Valley Zapotec languages, Zapotec: ''Ndua''), is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the municipal seat for the surrounding munici ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

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 ...

. He was the key cleric in President

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

's policy of conciliation with the Roman Catholic Church, which kept the

anticlerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

articles of the liberal

Constitution of 1857 The Political Constitution of the Mexican Republic of 1857 (), often called simply the Constitution of 1857, was the Liberalism in Mexico, liberal constitution promulgated in 1857 by Constituent Congress of Mexico during the presidency of Ignacio ...

in place but suspended their implementation.

Life

Born at Puebla, Mexico in 1841, he was the member of a wealthy and socially prominent family, the son of an English Catholic from Lancashire, Thomas Gillow, who immigrated to Mexico in 1819, and María Zavala y Gutiérrez, who inherited the title of the Marchioness of Selva Nevada. Originally Thomas Gillow was a jeweler, but he became a successful agricultural businessman, managing his wife's estates, and keenly interested in improving farming methods in Mexico.Henderson, "Gillow", p. 98. In 1851, Gillow father and son attended

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

in London; and young Eulogio remained in England for education, attending the Jesuit college of

Stonyhurst Stonyhurst is a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is centred on Stonyhurst College, occupying the great house, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish church, St ...

. After Stonyhurst, Gillow continued his studies at the College of Aalst and the Université de Namur, both in Belgium. This was followed by studies at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

and

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

. He went to Rome in 1862, and gained an audience with Pope

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, who encouraged him to study for the priesthood. Gillow was in Rome for the celebrations for Maximilian of Habsburg as he prepared to go to Mexico to become Emperor at the invitation of Mexican conservatives. Gillow returned to Mexico during Maximilian's

Second Mexican Empire The Second Mexican Empire (; ), officially known as the Mexican Empire (), was a constitutional monarchy established in Mexico by Mexican monarchists with the support of the Second French Empire. This period is often referred to as the Second ...

and was ordained at the cathedral in Puebla in 1869.Henderson, "Gillow", p. 599. He had impressed Pius XI and returned to Rome to serve as the pope's private chamberlain. During the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

, Gillow was a theological adviser to the archbishop of Oaxaca. Before his return to Mexico, Gillow was appointed by the pope to an office that connected him directly with the Roman Curia rather than the episcopal hierarchy in Mexico. He inherited the

Chautla Hacienda The Chautla Hacienda was a formerly vast extension of farmland located in the San Martin Texmelucan, San Martin Texmelucan Valley in the state of Puebla, northwest of the Puebla, Puebla, city of Puebla in Mexico. It was established in the 18th cen ...

located in the rich valley of

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

and on his return to Mexico devoted more of his attention to his family estate than to ecclesiastical matters. As the son of an agricultural entrepreneur who had a great interest in improving agriculture in Mexico, Gillow followed in his father's footsteps, involving himself in the Mexican Agricultural Society. At this hacienda, he built modern infrastructure, including the first hydroelectric plant in Latin America, as well as telegraph and telephone lines, imported the latest agricultural machinery, and gained railroad concessions. He built an English-style residence (locally known as "El Castillo" (The Castle)) for a planned agricultural school. As a promoter of modern agriculture, he participated in expositions, which is how he came to the attention of Porfirio Díaz, a liberal former general who as president promoted modernization in Mexico, including foreign investment. Gillow organized an exposition in Puebla, where his estate was located, and there was hope of attracting investors from the U.S. Díaz himself opened the exposition, with multilingual Gillow as his interpreter and intermediary with businessmen. The relationship between Gillow and Díaz was the key to easing the Church-State conflict in Mexico. When the widowed Díaz married his second wife, seventeen-year-old

Carmen Romero Rubio Fabiana Sebastiana María Carmen Romero Rubio y Castelló (20 January 1864 – 25 June 1944), was the second wife of Porfirio Díaz, President of Mexico. Youth Carmen Romero Rubio was born on January 20 of 1864 in Tula, Tamaulipas to a wealt ...

, the daughter of one of his key advisers, he asked Gillow preside, but Gillow suggested that the archbishop of Mexico and prominent supporter of the Second Mexican Empire to do the honors. Symbolically it was powerful, demonstrating the liberal Díaz's respect for the Church and the easing of the position of a prominent conservative cleric. He was named archbishop of Oaxaca in 1891,''The Catholic Encyclopedia and Its Makers'', 1917, p. 66
/ref> which Díaz was pleased with. Gillow and Díaz exchanged expensive and symbolic gifts, a pastoral ring with a large emerald to Gillow, a jeweled representation of Napoleon's victories to Díaz. Gillow's post as archbishop in Díaz's home state had a number of benefits, due to his political and ecclesiastic connections. As such he worked to get a railway connection between

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 ...

and Oaxaca and worked to open schools and preserve a number of the city's colonial churches. During the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

, his estate in Puebla was seized by

Constitutionalist Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional to ...

forces. Gillow went into exile in Los Angeles, but returned to Mexico just prior to his death in 1922. He was archbishop until his death in 1922. According to one scholar, Gillow was the model for D.H. Lawrence's character of Bishop Severn in ''The Plumed Serpent'' (1926).Ross Parmenter, ''Lawrence in Oaxaca: a Quest for the Novelist in Mexico'', Salt Lake City: G.M. Smith 1984.

Writings

* Apuntes históricos sobre la idolatría y la introducción del cristianismo en la diócesis de Oaxaca. * ''Reminiscencias del Ilmo. y Rmo. Sr. Dr. D. Eulogio Gillow y Zavalza, Arzobispo de Antequera (Oaxaca)''. Four editions published between 1920 and 1921. * Actas y Decretos del Concilio I de Antequera celebrado en Oaxaca, del día 8 de diciembre de 1892 al día 12 de marzo de 1893. * Primera carta pastoral del Illmo. señor doctor don Eulogio G. Gillow en la que saluda al clero y fieles de la diócesis que se le ha confiado * Informe rendido á la Sociedad agrícola mexicana, sobre las ventajas que resultan á México de cultivar los cereales con la maquinaria agrícola norte-Americana, 1880.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillow Y Zavalza, Eulogio Roman Catholic archbishops of Mexico (city) 1841 births 1922 deaths Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia

Life

Writings

See also

References

External links