The St. Joseph Apache Mission Church is a historic Catholic parish church at 626 Mission Trail in Mescalero, New Mexico, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Its parishioners are mostly members of the Mescalero

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

tribe.Deepa Bharath
Apache Christ icon controversy sparks debate over Indigenous Catholic faith practices
Associated Press (July 27, 2024).

The church was built upon the stone floor of a prehistoric Jornada Mogollon-culture ruin, estimated to date from 200 to 1400. It was designed in

Late Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style by Philadelphia architect William C. Stanton. With Priest

Albert Braun Father Albert William Braun Ordo Fratrum Minorum, OFM (September 5, 1889 – March 6, 1983) was a Priesthood (Catholic Church), Roman Catholic priest and teacher in the Southwestern United States, Southwest and the Pacific States, Pacific United St ...

oversaw construction beginning in the 1920s. The altar of the church features '' Apache Christ'', an 8-foot painting, executed by Franciscan friar

Robert Lentz Robert Lentz (born 1946) is an American Franciscan friar and religious icon painter.Br ...

in 1989, that depicts Christ as a Mescalero holy man greeting the sun atop Sierra Blanca; inscriptions around the painting are in both

and Greek. In 2024, the

Diocese of Las Cruces The Diocese of Las Cruces ( la, Dioecesis Las Cruces, es, 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 i ...

removed the icon, a smaller work showing Native dancers, and ceramic chalices and baskets donated by the local Pueblo community for use in serving the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

. The removal touched off a debate within the Catholic Church regarding inculturation and the melding of Apache and Catholic traditions. The diocese restored the works after their removal angered Apache parishioners; after the works were reinstalled, Bishop

Peter Baldacchino Peter Baldacchino (born December 5, 1960) is a Maltese-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Since July 23, 2019, he has been serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico. He previously served as an auxiliary ...

met with the parish council.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph Apache Mission Church 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Buildings and structures in Otero County, New Mexico Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Mescalero Apache National Register of Historic Places in Otero County, New Mexico Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces Roman Catholic churches completed in 1939 Roman Catholic churches in New Mexico

See also

References

External links