Dictionary.net

A distinguished Mexican controversial writer; born in Puebla, April 5, 1718; died in Ravenna, Italy, about 1807. His book "The Jesuits and the Pope" (1746), published soon after entering the priesthood, gained him five years" imprisonment. The year after his release he issued a bitter criticism of the Church dignitaries, for which he was deposed from the priesthood and imprisoned in the castle of Sant" Angelo, but released later. His work was burned by the executioner; the single copy saved from the flames is now in the National Academy of Mexico. His works include: "The Tombs of Mohammed and Christ"; "Voltaire and his School"; "Science and Superstition"; and "Religion and Hygiene".