Border wall would cause ‘acute harm’ to Mount Cristo Rey, says New Mexico diocese

Clergy and lay Catholics in the borderland region have also been organising against proposals to construct an immigration detention centre in Socorro, Texas, 15 miles southeast of El Paso.

The Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico responded to the Trump Administration’s efforts to seize more than 14 acres of land near the base of Mount Cristo Rey for a border wall.

The federal government said that access to a shrine at the top of the mountain will not be restricted, but in a new court filing in late July church officials maintained that the site will be affected.

In particular, the diocese raised concerns that blasting and construction activities for the wall could threaten the integrity of a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ. The diocese cited construction damage to Las Playas Intaglio, a cultural site sacred to Indigenous people in southwest Arizona, as evidence supporting its concerns.

Church leaders also argue that the government’s attempts to seize the land violate the diocese’s First Amendment protections, as well as the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“The presence of an edifice so inconsistent with Catholic values on Mount Cristo Rey will desecrate that holy site and dilute the religious experience that pilgrims seek when summiting the mountain,” the diocese said in its court filing.

“That harm will be especially acute in light of the mountain’s historical, cultural and religious significance as a symbol of unity and shared heritage among the borderland communities.”

Church leaders further argue that Mount Cristo Rey should receive the same consideration as other sites that are being exempted from having a physical border wall, noting in court documents that the government “has declined to build the border wall along various stretches of the US-Mexico border based on secular considerations”.

Clergy and lay Catholics in the borderland region have also been organising against a proposed immigration detention centre in Socorro, Texas, 15 miles southeast of El Paso. The federal government earlier this year announced plans to convert three existing warehouses into a complex that will hold thousands of immigrants awaiting deportation.

Local leaders and residents, many organised by local parishes, have been outspoken about their concerns, citing environmental issues as well as moral reasons for opposing the facility.

Opposition has grown in recent months as the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organisation held meetings with parish leaders in the town’s three Catholic churches to discuss what the planned detention centre might mean. Community organisers put together “house meetings” at each of the town’s three Catholic churches.

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