About Cristo Rey (Historic Church) · Santa Fe, New Mexico
Cristo Rey Catholic Church (Christ the King) is a Roman Catholic parish on Canyon Road in Santa Fe, New Mexico, founded in 1939 as a parish of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The adobe church was designed by the celebrated Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem in the Spanish Pueblo Revival style, completed and dedicated on June 27, 1940, and is widely considered the largest adobe church in the United States. It is renowned for housing the Reredos of Our Lady of Light, an 18-foot carved stone altarpiece from 1761 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today Cristo Rey is a multicultural, multi-generational faith community called to live out charity, hospitality, respect, instruction, service, and stewardship.
- Established
- 1939
- Patron
- Christ the King (Cristo Rey)
- Rector
- Rev. Adam Ortega y Ortiz (parish shares pastoral staffing with the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Why belong here
Cristo Rey offers a small, historic adobe parish on Santa Fe's east side where daily noon Mass and weekend Masses make it easy to weave prayer into the week. The parish shares its life with the Cathedral Basilica next door and the local Knights of Columbus Council 1707, which hosts parish Bible studies, faith-formation gatherings like RCIA, and service projects such as feeding the poor at the Santa Fe Interfaith Community Shelter. Belonging here means joining a multicultural, multi-generational Catholic community that treasures the 1761 Reredos of Our Lady of Light and the John Gaw Meem architecture that frames it.
Mass times at Cristo Rey (Historic Church)
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM
Welcome and Parish Identity
Cristo Rey Catholic Church describes itself as 'a multicultural, multi-generation faith community rich in tradition and in union with the Archbishop of Santa Fe and the Pope.' It calls its members to be witnesses of Christ the King through Charity, Hospitality, Respect, Instruction, Service, and the giving of Tithing, Talent and Treasure. The parish mission statement is to 'proclaim the Gospel of Christ to our local community in word, deed, and truth.' The parish office has been moved to the Cathedral Basilica at 131 Cathedral Place, but the phone number (505.983.8528) and email ([email protected]) remain the same.
- Parish motto: 'Loving Christ, Loving Others'
- Core values: Charity, Hospitality, Respect, Instruction, Service, Tithing/Talent/Treasure
- Founded 1939, Parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM
History of Cristo Rey
Cristo Rey parish was established in 1939 by Archbishop Rudolph Gerken and the new adobe church was designed by John Gaw Meem, completed and dedicated on June 27, 1940. The project served three goals: providing a parish church on Santa Fe's east side, commemorating the 400th anniversary of Coronado's expedition, and giving a permanent home to the Reredos of Our Lady of Light. Construction was done by more than 100 local men who mixed adobe from the site with water from the Acequia de los Lopez; the 222 vigas were hauled from the Sangre de Cristo mountains, and the woodwork was made by students at the Lourdes trade school in Albuquerque. Architecture critic Chris Wilson has called it 'the last, great adobe mission.'
- 1939: Parish founded under Archbishop Rudolph Gerken
- 1940: Church designed by John Gaw Meem, completed and dedicated June 27, 1940
- Builds 150,000–200,000 adobe bricks on a hidden steel frame
- 222 vigas hauled from the Sangre de Cristo mountains
- Woodwork by students at the Lourdes trade school, Albuquerque
The Reredos of Our Lady of Light
The reredos is an 18-foot-tall by 14-foot-wide limestone altarpiece carved in 1761 by Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, originally installed in La Castrense, the military Chapel of Our Lady of Light on the south side of the Santa Fe Plaza. It was commissioned by retiring Spanish Governor Francisco Antonio Marín del Valle and his wife María Ygnacia Martinez, and features a central St. James on horseback flanked by St. John Nepomuk and St. Anthony of Padua, with a seated Mother and Child above and Our Lady of Light below, plus panels of St. Joseph and St. Ignatius Loyola. Saved by Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy when La Castrense was demolished, the reredos was stored for decades before Cristo Rey gave it a permanent home in 1940; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been called 'one of the most extraordinary pieces of ecclesiastical art in the country.'
- Carved 1761 by Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco
- Originally in La Castrense chapel, Santa Fe Plaza
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
- Installed at the west end of the Cristo Rey nave
Architecture
Cristo Rey is a Spanish Pueblo Revival, cruciform-plan church whose asymmetrical façade has two battered towers of different heights separated by a recessed balcony above the main entrance. Inside, it follows a traditional Latin cross plan with an aisleless nave, transept, and polygonal apse, with a clerestory above the altar that illuminates the reredos. The double towers echo San Estevan del Rey at Acoma Pueblo, and the balconied front is reminiscent of San José de Gracia in Trampas. The building is supported by a hidden steel frame and rises 33 feet high, with walls up to 9 feet thick — earning it the claim of being the largest adobe church in the United States.
- Style: Spanish Pueblo Revival / cruciform plan
- Architect: John Gaw Meem
- Contractor: parishioners and local laborers
- Dimensions: 125 ft long × 40 ft wide × 33 ft high
- Adobe walls up to 9 ft thick on a hidden steel frame
Parish Ministries and Faith Formation
Cristo Rey is closely linked with the Cathedral Basilica ministries and with Knights of Columbus Council 1707, which officially serves both parishes. The parish runs RCIA for adults preparing to enter the Church, Religious Education for children, and Bible studies that meet Thursday evenings in the Cristo Rey Gym (including Father Rob's Bible Study). Council 1707 hosts pancake breakfasts, recruits RCIA candidates each spring, and organizes service projects such as feeding the poor at the Santa Fe Interfaith Community Shelter.
- Knights of Columbus Council 1707 (Cathedral + Cristo Rey)
- RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults)
- Religious Education
- Thursday Bible Study at the Cristo Rey Gym
- Father Rob's Bible Study
- Service: feeding the poor at Santa Fe Interfaith Community Shelter
- Parish breakfasts and social gatherings
Visiting Cristo Rey
The church sits at 1120 Canyon Road on Santa Fe's east side, at the lower end of the historic Upper Canyon Road arts corridor. Because the parish office now shares space with the Cathedral Basilica at 131 Cathedral Place, visitors may want to call (505) 983-8528 or email [email protected] ahead of time. Mailing correspondence goes to 1147 Cristo Rey St., Santa Fe, NM 87505.
- Church address: 1120 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501
- Parish office: Cathedral Basilica, 131 Cathedral Place
- Mailing: 1147 Cristo Rey St., Santa Fe, NM 87505
- Phone: (505) 983-8528
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.cristoreyparish.org/
Online Giving and Bulletin
The parish website offers an online giving option for tithing and stewardship, and posts a regular bulletin with announcements, Mass intentions, and event details. Parishioners and visitors can subscribe to the bulletin through the parish website.
- Online Giving available via the parish website
- Parish bulletin published regularly