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Well I'm not sure I understand it all but here is a quote from Dr.
Lyman Platt's book, "Mexico, General Guide: Ecclesiastical Divisions."
Lots of details in the book:
Archdiocese of Guadalajara
The diocese of Compostela was erected on July 31, 1548 with its seat at
the city of Compostela. It was also known by the name of Nueva Galicia.
In 1552, the seat was transferred to Guadalajara and from that time
forth it became known at the Bishopric of Guadalajara.
The territory of the diocese was vast and not totally known. As
the colonization progressed towards the north, all newly discovered
areas were assigned to the diocese. It first comprised what is the
modern state of Jalisco minus the two cantons of Zapotlan and La Barcas
near Lake Chapala (which it did not acquire until near the end of the
XVIII century). It also included the modern states of Sinaloa, Nayarit,
Durango, Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, and Coahuila and
at discovery all of Nuevo Reino de Leon, Saltillo, Texas, Nuevo
Santander, Nuevo Mexico, Californias, and all the northern territories
that were not well determined.
In Guadalajara, the seat of the archbishopric, there was one
Spanish parish and two Indian parishes.
During the colonial period only Guardiana (Durango) was separated
from Guadalajara as a bishopric. This occurred on October 11, 1620.
This new bishopric was extremely necessary. The bishop of Guadalajara,
don fray Juan del Valle and the licentiate Pedro de Otarola, president
of the Audiencia of Nueva Galicia, in accordance with the royal decree
dated Madrid, June 14, 1621, described the initial limits of the new
diocese, and for that reason limited Guadalajara as follows: the
dividing line between the two bishoprics ran Acaponeta (State of
Nayarit) to Nieves (Zacatecas), Parras (Coahuila), and towards the
northeast in an undefined line. Shortly after the accord, the two
gentlemen mentioned agreed that the line should terminate at the
hacienda de San Francisco de los Patos (today General Cepeda, near
Parras), and that the Diocese of Guadalajara would continue to be
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