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.

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.

History

The early Catholic settlers in the region were serviced by visiting priests from Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church in El Paso. Among the earliest Catholic churches in the region are Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria Mission in Doña Ana (built in 1844), San Albino Basilica in Mesilla (established in 1851)and St. Genevieve Catholic Church (established in 1859) which stood as the "heart of Las Cruces" until its demolition in the late 1960s. Holy Cross, St. Albert the Great, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral are among the more modern parishes in the Las Cruces region. There are several missions scattered throughout the region.

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. The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Ricardo Ramírez from the Archdiocese of San Antonio as the first bishop of Las Cruces.

Ramírez had to build the new diocese, creating a small diocesan office with one manual typewriter. 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. 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.

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

Scandals

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. In February 2019, the diocese released the personnel files of all of the credibly accused clergy. The diocese added 13 more clergy and a volunteer teacher to the credibly accused list as well.

In May 2020, the diocese was named in a sexual abuse lawsuit. The plaintiff accused the defendants of protecting Reverend David Holley after he sexually abused the plaintiff in the 1970s. 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. 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.

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.

Bishops

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

Education

• All Saints Catholic School – Roswell
• Las Cruces Catholic School – Las Cruces
• St. Frances Cabrini Catholic School – Alamogordo
• St. Helena Catholic School – Hobbs
• St. Mary's High School - Las Cruces (closed in 2020)
• Madonna High School - Las Cruces (closed in early 1960s)

See also