Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces

The Diocese of Las Cruces (Latin: Dioecesis Las Cruces, Spanish: Diócesis de Las Cruces) is the Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southern New Mexico in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Diocese of Las Cruces
Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
Territory10 counties across Southern New Mexico
Ecclesiastical provinceSanta Fe
Statistics
Area44,483 sq mi (115,210 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2010)
527,000
139,322 (26.4%)
Parishes45
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedAugust 17, 1982 (41 years ago)
CathedralCathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Patron saintSaint Francis of Assisi[1]
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopPeter Baldacchino
Metropolitan ArchbishopJohn Charles Wester
Archbishop of Santa Fe
Bishops emeritusRicardo Ramirez
Map
Website
rcdlc.org

The mother church of the Diocese of Las Cruces is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Las Cruces. As of 2023, the bishop is Peter Baldacchino.

Territory

The Diocese of Las Cruces comprises the following counties:

Hidalgo, Grant, Luna, Sierra, Doña Ana, Otero, Lincoln, Chaves, Eddy, and Lea.

As of 2023, the diocese had a Catholic population exceeding 234,000, served in 46 parishes and 40 missions.[2]

History

The early Catholic settlers in the region were serviced by visiting priests from Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church in El Paso.[3] The first Catholic church in Mesilla, San Albino, was dedicated in 1851.[4] Holy Cross Church in Las Cruces was established in 1859.[5]

The Diocese of Las Cruces was erected by Pope John Paul II on August 17, 1982. Its territory was taken from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and the Diocese of El Paso.[6] The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Ricardo Ramírez from the Archdiocese of San Antonio as the first bishop of Las Cruces.[7]

Ramírez had to build the new diocese, creating a small diocesan office with one manual typewriter.[8] Ramírez retired in 2013.

The second bishop of Las Cruces was Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Antonio, named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.[9] Cantú became bishop of San Jose in 2018. The next year, to replace Cantú in Las Cruces, Pope Francis named Auxiliary Bishop Peter Baldacchino of the Archdiocese of Miami.[10]

As of 2023, Baldacchino is the bishop of Las Cruces.

Sex abuse

In November 2018, the Diocese of Las Cruces released the names of 28 clergy who were credibly accused of committing acts of sex abuse while serving in the diocese.[11][12] In February 2019, the diocese released the personnel files of all of the credibly accused clergy.[13] The diocese added 13 more clergy and a volunteer teacher to the credibly accused list as well.[14]

In May 2020, the diocese was named in a sexual abuse lawsuit.[15] The plaintiff accused the defendants of protecting Reverend David Holley after he sexually abused the plaintiff in the 1970s.[15] Holley was a priest from the Diocese of Worcester living at the Servants of the Paraclete facility in Alamogordo at the time of the alleged crimes. He was being treated for sexually abusing minors in Massachusetts. The plaintiff also accused Holley of assault and battery and possession of child pornography.[16] Holley was convicted in New Mexico in 1993 of sexually abusing and raping eight boys. He was sentenced to 55 to 275 years in prison.[17]

In November 2020, the Congregation for Bishops in the Vatican announced an investigation of Bishop Cantú for his handling of sexual abuse cases while he was bishop of Las Cruces. The investigation was being headed by Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix.[18]

Bishops
  1. Ricardo Ramirez (1982–2013)
  2. Oscar Cantú (2013–2018), appointed Bishop of San Jose
  3. Peter Baldacchino (2019–present)

Education

The Diocese of Las Cruces has four elementary schools:

  • All Saints Catholic School – Roswell
  • Las Cruces Catholic School – Las Cruces
  • St. Frances Cabrini Catholic School – Alamogordo
  • St. Helena Catholic School – Hobbs[19]

See also

References
  1. "Feast of St. Francis of Assisi a Patron of Our Diocese of las Cruces".
  2. "Diocese of Las Cruces". www.rcdlc.org. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  3. "History". Basilica of San Albino. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  4. "History". www.sanalbino.org. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  5. "history of holy cross church". Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  6. "Diocese of Las Cruces". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  7. "Bishop Ricardo Ramirez [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  8. López, Carlos Andres. "2017 Distinguished Resident: Bishop Emeritus Ricardo Ramírez". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  9. "Vatican appoints Oscar Cantú as bishop in San Jose". Las Cruces Sun News. July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  10. "Bishop Peter Baldacchino [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  11. Onsurez, Jessica. "Catholic Diocese names 2 Carlsbad priests involved in sex abuse scandal". Carlsbad Current-Argus.
  12. Oxford, Andrew. "Diocese of Las Cruces names 28 accused of abuse". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  13. "Las Cruces Diocese releases accused priests' personnel files". AP NEWS. February 12, 2019.
  14. Staff and wire reports. "Las Cruces Diocese releases files, identifies 13 more accused priests". Las Cruces Sun-News.
  15. Maxwell, Nicole. "St. Jude's, Immaculate Conception named in lawsuit for 1970s child sexual abuse". Alamogordo Daily News.
  16. "2 Alamogordo parishes named in child sex abuse suit - Albuquerque Journal". www.abqjournal.com.
  17. "Worcester Diocese named in New Mexico child sex abuse suit - Blog View - The 016 - Worcester, Mass". the016.com.
  18. CNA. "California Bishop Cantu under Vatican 'Vos estis' investigation". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  19. "Diocese of Las Cruces - Schools". www.rcdlc.org. Retrieved 2023-10-19.

32°17′48″N 106°46′39″W

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