There was an effort to introduce Euro-American clergy to the region, as a way to displace Mexican priests and "Americanize" the Catholic Church there, which created tension between the Mexican Americans and Euro-Americans. At the time, a large amount of Euro-Americans viewed Catholicism as a "superstitious" church and felt that Mexicans were racially inferior for believing in this. There was a disconnect between the Euro-Americans and the Mexican Americans living in New Mexico and other parts of the Southwest that caused many issues for the Mexican Americans that identified with Catholicism. The Euro-Americans that had replaced the Mexican priests felt that assimilation to American culture was vital, and they used racist ideas to justify the changes that they were making to the Catholic Church. However, Zubiria still had jurisdiction over Doña Ana, La Mesilla, and Las Cruces which kept the newly appointed bishop of Santa Fe Jean Lamy and his clergymen out of Southern New Mexico until 1868. Jose Jesus Baca, a priest originally appointed by Zubiria, asked transfer to the archdiocese of Durango after following the change. In response, Zubiria appointed him to supervise all of the major parishes in southern New Mexico (Mora). Baca felt most comfortable in one of the parishes, named Mesilla, where he decided to take a political position as a part of the Church, continuing Zubiria's mission of resistance.