 Pope Gregory XVI, challenging Spanish and Portuguese sovereignty, appointed his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave trade in 1839 (papal bull "In supremo apostolatus"), and approved the ordination of native clergy in spite of government racism.Many buildings erected by the Jesuits still stand, such as the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Macau and the Santísima Trinidad de Paraná in Paraguay, an example of a Jesuit Reduction.In Las Californias Province of New Spain in the Americas, the Catholic Church expanded its missions in cooperation with the Spanish government and military to settle present day California and protect it from Imperial Russian and British colonial advances.