With congregations dwindling and villages emptying out, maintaining hundreds of historic adobe churches – made with mud and straw centuries ago – is a daunting challenge across rural New Mexico
An exterior view of the San Jose de Gracia Catholic Church, built in 1760, in Las Trampas, New Mexico, Friday, April 14, 2023. Threatened by depopulation, dwindling congregations and fading traditions, some faithful are fighting to save their historic adobe churches and the uniquely New Mexican way of life they represent.
From the local dirt they’re made of to the generations of family memories they hold, these churches anchor a uniquely New Mexican way of life for their communities, many of which no longer have schools or stores, and struggle with chronic poverty and addiction. Fidel Trujillo is mayordomo of the pink-stuccoed San José church in the hamlet of Ledoux where he grew up. With his wife and other family members, he keeps it spotless even though only two Masses per year are celebrated here regularly.
In the small town of Bernalillo, Catholic faithful have kept a vow to St. Lawrence for more than 300 years that includes one family each year setting up an altar with his image in their home – and making it available 24/7 to anyone who wants to pray.Her home is near the historic adobe Santuario de San Lorenzo, which the community fought to keep even though a larger church was built next door.
“Saints are the spiritual go-to; they can be highly powerful,” said Victor Goler, a master santero who just completed conserving the altarpieces, or “reredos,” in Las Trampas’ mid-18th century church. “It’s important for the community to have a connection. Their feeling is a lot deeper and that’s what keeps it going.”
He also helped conserve the colorful, centuries-old reredos at the local church, where many children come back for traditional Christmas and Easter prayers – giving both Sandovals hope that the younger generations will learn to be attached to their church. Frank Graziano hopes his non-profit Nuevo Mexico Profundo, which supported the Cordova conservation, can obtain the necessary permit from the archdiocese to restore the 1840s church of San Geronimo. Deep cracks break apart its adobe walls and bug nests buzz in a gaping hole by one of the windows.
But with fewer priests and fewer faithful, taking some rural missions off the church’s roster might be inevitable, said the Rev. Andy Pavlak, who serves on the archdiocese’s commission for preservation of historic churches.
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