91视频

By Giovanna Dell鈥橭rto

The Associated Press

CORDOVA, New Mexico 鈥� Ever since missionaries started building churches out of mud 400 years ago in what was the isolated frontier of the Spanish empire, tiny mountain communities like Cordova relied on their own resources to keep the faith going.

Thousands of miles from religious and lay seats of power, everything from priests to sculptors to paint pigments was hard to come by. Villagers instituted lay church caretakers called 鈥渕ayordomos,鈥� and filled chapels with elaborate altarpieces made of local wood and varnished with pine sap.

Today, threatened by depopulation, dwindling congregations and fading traditions, some of their descendants are fighting to save these historic adobe structures from literally crumbling back to the earth they were built with.

鈥淥ur ancestors put blood and sweat in this place for us to have Jesus present; this is the root of my faith,鈥� said Angelo Sandoval inside the 1830s church of St. Anthony, where he serves as mayordomo in his native Cordova. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not just a church. We鈥檙e not just a religion. We have roots.鈥�

From the local dirt they鈥檙e 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.

An estimated 500 Catholic mission churches remain in northern New Mexico, where the Rocky Mountains taper off into desert mesas to the west and endless plains to the east.

It鈥檚 becoming increasingly difficult for stakeholders to find the necessary investment 鈥� hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus specialized conservation skills and families willing to serve as mayordomos 鈥� to preserve these churches, especially since most are used for only a few services each year.

鈥淚t鈥檚 truly a labor of love,鈥� said the Rev. Rob Yaksich, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows in Las Vegas, New Mexico, which oversees 23 rural churches, most in adobe, spread over a large territory. 鈥淲hen the faithful generation is gone, are they going to be a museum or serve their purpose? This old, deep-rooted Spanish Catholicism is experiencing serious disruption.鈥�

Fidel Trujillo is mayordomo of the pink-stuccoed San Jos茅 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.

鈥淥ur 鈥榓ntepasados鈥� (ancestors) did a tremendous job in handing over the faith, and it鈥檚 our job now,鈥� Trujillo said in the characteristic mix of Spanish and English that many speak in this region. While he鈥檚 also active in the main parish in the nearby town of Mora, he brings his children, 6 and 4, as often as he can to San Jos茅.

鈥淭his serves as a retreat and grounding for us,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 much prefer coming to these 鈥榗apillas鈥� (chapels). It鈥檚 a compass that guides where your heart really belongs.鈥�

Each mission church is devoted to a particular saint, for whom the community develops special veneration. When聽New Mexico鈥檚 largest wildfire聽last spring charred forests close to the San Jos茅 church, and Trujillo was displaced for a month, he took the statue of St. Joseph with him.

In the small town of Bernalillo, Catholic faithful for more than 300 years have kept a vow to St. Lawrence that includes one family each year setting up an altar with his image in their home 鈥� and making it available 24/7 to anyone who wants to pray.

鈥淭hey have knocked at my door at 2 a.m. and I鈥檝e let them in,鈥� mayordoma Barbara Finley said.

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.

鈥淔our hundred years ago, life was very difficult in this part of the world, the remote inland frontier of the Spanish empire,鈥� explained Felix L贸pez, a master 鈥渟antero鈥� 鈥� the artists who sculpt, paint and conserve saint figures in New Mexico鈥檚 unique devotional style, born of historical isolation. 鈥淧eople needed these 鈥榮antos.鈥� They were a source of comfort and refuge.鈥�

In intervening centuries, most were stolen, sold or damaged, according to Bernadette Lucero, director, curator and archivist for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, which has inventories of its hundreds of churches since the 1600s.

But how much these expressive sculptures and paintings still matter to local communities is evident where they survive in original form, as they do at the mission churches in Cordova, Truchas and Las Trampas on the mountain road from Santa Fe to Taos.

鈥淪aints are the spiritual go-to; they can be highly powerful,鈥� said Victor Goler, a master santero who just completed conserving the altarpieces, or 鈥渞eredos,鈥� in Las Trampas鈥� mid-18th century church. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for the community to have a connection. Their feeling is a lot deeper and that鈥檚 what keeps it going.鈥�

The archdiocese鈥檚 Catholic Foundation provides small grants, and several organizations have been founded to help conservation efforts.

Frank Graziano hopes his nonprofit 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.

The surrounding village, in a wide valley in the shadow of Hermit Peak, is almost entirely depopulated, making it unlikely that the community will step in for the necessary upkeep. Exposed to rain and snow, adobe needs a fresh replastering of dirt, sand and straw every couple of years lest it dissolve.

That makes local buy-in and some kind of ongoing activity, even just funerals, fundamental to long-term preservation, said Jake Barrow, program director at Cornerstones, which has worked on more than 300 churches and other structures.

When volunteers started fundraising for the mission in Truchas, the community suspected it would be turned into an art gallery, mayordoma Aggie Vigil said. They came around when she shared the dream to make the old adobe church, then unstable and infested with gophers, viable for Mass again.

But with fewer priests and fewer faithful, taking some rural missions off the church鈥檚 roster might be inevitable, said the Rev. Andy Pavlak, who serves on the archdiocese鈥檚 commission for preservation of historic churches.

鈥淲e have two choices: Either return to the community, or back to the earth they came from; we can鈥檛 save them all,鈥� said Pavlak, who for nearly a decade ministered to 10 churches (the oldest dating to 1615) in Socorro County. 鈥淭he adobe is made from the earth. Adam and Eve were made from the earth. We鈥檙e all going to the earth. How do we do it with dignity?鈥�