Catholicism began in the nation in the sixteenth century with the invasion of Pedro de Alvarado. San Salvador was made an archdiocese on February 11, 1913 with Monsignor Antonio Adolfo Perez as first Archbishop. Prior to that date it had been under the jurisdiction of Guatemala. Archbishop Luis Chávez y González from 1939 to 1977 encouraged priests to study farming cooperatives and made efforts toward improving the poorest sectors of El Salvador (although in other respects he was a conservative who favored film censorship, staunchly opposed Communism, and was devoted to Pope Pius XII).