 He traveled to Central America, acting as a missionary among the Maya of Guatemala and participating in debates among colonial churchmen about how best to bring the natives to the Christian faith.Travelling back to Spain to recruit more missionaries, he continued lobbying for the abolition of the "encomienda", gaining an important victory by the passage of the New Laws in 1542.He was appointed Bishop of Chiapas, but served only for a short time before he was forced to return to Spain because of resistance to the New Laws by the "encomenderos", and conflicts with Spanish settlers because of his pro-Indian policies and activist religious stance.