About Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary · Datil, New Mexico
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a small Catholic mission church located on Old Highway 60 in the tiny community of Datil, in Catron County, west-central New Mexico. It is a mission church of the Parish of Santo Niño de Atocha in Aragon, and comes under the pastoral care of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup. Weekend Mass is celebrated Saturday evenings in the warmer months at 4:00 PM and shifted to 3:00 PM in the winter, with confessions heard before Mass. The mission serves the rural Catholic families of the Datil area along the old highway corridor between Magdalena and Quemado.
- Patron
- Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Rector
- Fr. Anthony Dike (Pastoral Administrator)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup
Why belong here
For Catholics living in or passing through Datil, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the local Saturday evening Mass and a familiar mission church where the rural community gathers. The Diocese of Gallup lists it among the parish missions of the region, and local press has highlighted the church's annual fiesta as a yearly point of parish fellowship. Because it is a mission of Santo Niño de Atocha, visitors worshiping here are cared for by the same priests who serve the broader Aragon parish family.
Mass times at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:30 PM (3:30–3:50 PM)
Identity & Mission Status
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is classified as a mission church on the Diocese of Gallup's parish roster, rather than an independent parish. According to GCatholic and Discover Mass, it is a Mission of the Parish of Santo Niño de Atocha in Aragon. Its sister missions under the same parish are St. Anne in Horse Springs, San Isidro in Lower San Francisco, and St. Francis in Reserve. All four missions are shepherded by the clergy of the Aragon parish and fall within the 'Lower Arizona' vicariate.
- Type: Mission (Diocese of Gallup)
- Parent Parish: Santo Niño de Atocha, 2598 Hwy. 12, Aragon, NM 87830
- Vicariate: Lower Arizona
- Sister missions: St. Anne (Horse Springs), San Isidro (Lower San Francisco), St. Francis (Reserve)
Clergy
Day-to-day pastoral care of the mission is provided by the priests assigned to the Parish of Santo Niño de Atocha. The Diocese of Gallup's parish listing identifies the two current priests responsible for this mission.
- Fr. Anthony Dike — Pastoral Administrator
- Fr. Kingsley Ijeoma — Parochial Vicar
Devotions & Special Services
A local community guide for the Magdalena/Datil area notes that the church hosts a First Friday Mass at 3:00 PM preceded by a rosary at 2:30 PM. No published adoration schedule or novena program was found on the official sources.
- First Friday: rosary at 2:30 PM, Mass at 3:00 PM
Annual Parish Fiesta
The mission is known locally for its annual fiesta. A September 2019 article in Southwest New Mexico / SpotOnNewMexico.com reported the third consecutive year of the church's annual Fiesta, held on the church grounds on a Sunday from 11 AM to 4 PM and open to the wider community.
- Annual community Fiesta held on a Sunday in September, 11 AM–4 PM
- Open to the broader Datil and Catron County community
Contact & Visiting
The mission's contact details are routed through the parent parish in Quemado and through the diocese. Visitors are pointed to the Datil church from about half a mile east of the Datil Post Office on Old Highway 60. No dedicated parish office is staffed at the mission; mail should be addressed to the Quemado mailing address listed by the Diocese of Gallup.
- Physical Address: Old Hwy 60, Datil, NM 87821 (also rendered as 53 Old Hwy 60)
- Mailing Address: PO Box 339, Quemado, NM 87829
- Phone: (575) 773-4631 (listed by Discover Mass)
- Parish office (Santo Niño de Atocha / Quemado): (575) 533-6240
- Website: dioceseofgallup.org parish page (no independent parish site was found)
Diocese of Gallup Context
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary sits within the Diocese of Gallup, a diocese originally carved out of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and the Diocese of Tucson by a Papal Decree of Pope Pius XII on December 16, 1939. The diocese's early mission churches — many originally founded by Franciscans — have continued to serve scattered Catholic communities across Catron County and the wider Four Corners region, with the parish at Aragon and its mission churches at Datil, Horse Springs, Lower San Francisco, and Reserve continuing that tradition today.
- Diocese erected December 16, 1939 by Pope Pius XII
- Catron County has been part of the diocese since its founding
- Vicariate: Lower Arizona