In December 1769 Archbishop Lorenzana circulated a printed pastoral in which he sharply criticised the nunneries of Mexico City. It was not the case that the nuns stood accused of any heinous offences or gross immorality, but simply that for every professed nun there were at least two other women living in the convents, consisting of servants, young girls and even ageing widows, many of whom came and went according to their whim, so that conventual seclusion was regularly interrupted. The cause of this disorder was the arrangement whereby each nun had her own kitchen, depending on a servant to cook for her and to purchase or bring in food supplied by relatives. It was to remedy this state of affairs that Lorenzana demanded the introduction of ‘the common life’, according to which nuns would henceforth eat together in the refectory. He forbade the entrance of novices who did not subscribe to the new regime. But since all the great convents of the capital, apart from the Carmelites and Capuchinas who observed an austere rule, had maintained the system of separate kitchens and cells from time immemorial, they turned to their wealthy relatives and presented a printed protest supported by the city council, the university and merchant guild, in which, led by the Concepción and Jesús María, they complained that ‘the method of common life does not agree with the weak and delicate natures of this country’. Nevertheless, both Lorenzana and Bishop Fuero of Puebla persisted in their campaign.