Editing Spanish missions in California (section)

=== Financial support ===

Mission development was financed out of ''El Fondo Piadoso de las Californias'' (''The [[Pious Fund of the Californias]]'' to enable the missionaries to propagate the Catholic faith in [[Las Californias|the area then known as California]]. The fund originated in 1697 and consisted of voluntary donations from individuals and religious bodies in Mexico to members of the [[Jesuits|Society of Jesus]].<ref name="Rawls, p. 106">Rawls, p. 106</ref>

With the onset of the [[Mexican War of Independence]] in 1810, support from the Pious Fund largely disappeared. Missions and converts were left on their own.<ref name="Rawls, p. 106"/>