Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces

The Diocese of Las Cruces (Latin: Dioecesis Las Cruces, Spanish: Diócesis de Las Cruces) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States, comprising the 10 southern counties in the state of New Mexico: Hidalgo, Grant, Luna, Sierra, Doña Ana, Otero, Lincoln, Chaves, Eddy, and Lea. It is led by a prelate bishop which serves as pastor of the mother church, Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the City of Las Cruces. Its congregants are overwhelmingly Hispanic, mostly Mexican in descent. The Diocese of Las Cruces is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Diocese of Las Cruces

Dioecesis Las Cruces

Diócesis de 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 (40 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

History

The Diocese of Las Cruces was canonically 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.[2][3]

On November 8, 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[4][5] On February 11, 2019, the Diocese released the personnel files of all of the credibly accused clergy.[6] 13 more clergy and a volunteer teacher were added to the credibly accused list as well.[7] On May 8, 2020, it was revealed that the Diocese of Las Cruces was facing a major sex abuse lawsuit involving former priest David Holley, who was accused of committing the alleged sex abuse in the 1970s, and two parishes in Alamogordo.[8] Holley was convicted in New Mexico in 1993 and given a 55 to 275 year prison sentence.[9]

Bishops

The list of bishops of the diocese and their years of service:

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

Education

Las Cruces Catholic School (k-8)

See also

References
  1. "Feast of St. Francis of Assisi a Patron of Our Diocese of las Cruces".
  2. "Diocese of Las Cruces". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  3. "Diocese of Las Cruces". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  4. Onsurez, Jessica. "Catholic Diocese names 2 Carlsbad priests involved in sex abuse scandal". Carlsbad Current-Argus.
  5. Oxford, Andrew. "Diocese of Las Cruces names 28 accused of abuse". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  6. "Las Cruces Diocese releases accused priests' personnel files". AP NEWS. February 12, 2019.
  7. Staff and wire reports. "Las Cruces Diocese releases files, identifies 13 more accused priests". Las Cruces Sun-News.
  8. "2 Alamogordo parishes named in child sex abuse suit - Albuquerque Journal". www.abqjournal.com.
  9. "Worcester Diocese named in New Mexico child sex abuse suit - Blog View - The 016 - Worcester, Mass". the016.com.

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