About San Jose de Picacho Mission · Fairacres, New Mexico
San Jose de Picacho Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church located in the historic village of Old Picacho, just west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the unincorporated community of Fairacres. Situated on a hillside at 3135 Old Picacho Road, the mission comprises a small church, parish hall, and adjacent residence. It is a mission church of the Basilica of San Albino in Mesilla within the Diocese of Las Cruces, and it serves a working-class, largely bilingual (English-Spanish) community along the U.S.-Mexico border. Sister Marie-Paule Willem, F.M.M., a Franciscan Missionary of Mary, served as pastoral administrator beginning around 2013 and is widely credited with reviving the parish from near closure to a thriving community of roughly 200 active families.
- Patron
- San José (Saint Joseph)
- Rector
- Sister Marie-Paule Willem, F.M.M. (Pastoral Administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Las Cruces
Why belong here
San Jose de Picacho Mission is a small, intimate, bilingual Catholic community perched on a hillside in the historic village of Old Picacho, where parishioners know one another by name. Weekend Mass is celebrated bilingually in English and Spanish, with confession offered before and after every service. Beyond Sunday worship, the parish extends its reach into the wider community through ministries of mercy — visiting the women of the Doña Ana County Detention Center, tutoring immigrants, teaching English, and helping families prepare for citizenship — making it a true mission church in both name and spirit.
Mass times at San Jose de Picacho Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 4:30–4:50 PM (or after Mass)
- Sunday 9:00–9:20 AM (or after Mass)
About San Jose de Picacho Mission
San Jose de Picacho Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the village of Old Picacho, in the unincorporated community of Fairacres just west of Las Cruces, New Mexico. A mission of the Basilica of San Albino in Mesilla, it sits on a hillside at 3135 Old Picacho Road and serves a working-class, bilingual community along the U.S.-Mexico border. Despite its modest size, the parish has won national recognition for its outreach to the poor, immigrants, and the detained.
- Type: Catholic Mission Church
- Diocese of Las Cruces
- Mailing address: 3135 Old Picacho Rd., Fairacres, NM 88007
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) weekend Mass
History: From Near-Closure to a Living Parish
When Sister Marie-Paule Willem arrived at the mission around 2013 at age 80 — at the invitation of then-Bishop Oscar Cantú — the property was falling apart and only a handful of parishioners attended weekend services. She repaired the buildings, recruited volunteers (a local police officer even built a new wooden altar), planted gardens with desert-hardy prickly pear, and walked door-to-door inviting neighbors back to church. Within five years the parish had grown to about 200 active families. Sister Willem's work earned the 2018-2019 Lumen Christi Award from Catholic Extension.
- c. 2013 — Sr. Marie-Paule Willem becomes pastoral administrator
- Volunteers rebuild altar, furniture, sidewalks, and grounds
- 2018 — Parish grows to ~200 active families; Lumen Christi Award
- 2019 — $50,000 grant shared with Diocese of Las Cruces for building projects
Parish Leadership and Supervising Parish
The mission is pastored through the Diocese of Las Cruces as a mission of the Basilica of San Albino in Mesilla. Pastoral administrator Sister Marie-Paule Willem, F.M.M., is assisted by Rev. Christopher Williams, pastor of the basilica.
- Pastoral Administrator: Sr. Marie-Paule Willem, F.M.M.
- Supervising Pastor: Rev. Christopher Williams (Basilica of San Albino, Mesilla)
- Vicariate: Las Cruces Vicariate, Diocese of Las Cruces
Mission and Outreach Ministries
True to its name as a mission church, San Jose de Picacho lives out its faith through service to the most vulnerable. Sister Willem's hallmark outreach has been her weekly visits to the women of the Doña Ana County Detention Center, where she brings holy communion, holy water, and paper for letter-writing. The parish also welcomes immigrant families, providing English tutoring and citizenship-preparation support, and walks the surrounding neighborhood to identify and serve practical needs.
- Doña Ana County Detention Center ministry (weekly visits to ~60 women)
- English-language tutoring for immigrants
- Citizenship test preparation
- Door-to-door neighborhood outreach
- Parish garden and grounds projects
Sister Marie-Paule Willem, F.M.M. — Pastoral Administrator
Sister Marie-Paule Willem is a Belgian-born Franciscan Missionary of Mary who took her vows at age 23 in Bruges. She has served the poor in the Philippines, in Paraguay (where she was exiled for her work with political prisoners), in Rome, and along the U.S.-Mexico border in Roma, Texas, Chamberino, New Mexico, and finally Old Picacho. She speaks five languages. In 2018 she received the Lumen Christi Award — the highest honor conferred by Catholic Extension on a U.S. Catholic missionary — for her work at San Jose Mission and with the women of the Doña Ana Detention Center.
- Franciscan Missionary of Mary (F.M.M.)
- Born in Bruges, Belgium; entered religious life at 23
- Servant in the Philippines, Paraguay, Rome, Roma TX, Chamberino NM
- Speaks five languages
- 2018-19 Lumen Christi Award recipient
Diocese of Las Cruces
San Jose de Picacho Mission belongs to the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, which covers the southern New Mexico counties of Doña Ana, Sierra, Otero, Lincoln, Eddy, Chaves, and Lea. The mission is grouped within the Las Cruces Vicariate, administered under the pastoral umbrella of the Basilica of San Albino in Mesilla.
- Diocese of Las Cruces (Roman Catholic)
- Las Cruces Vicariate
- Supervising parish: Basilica of San Albino, Mesilla
- Diocese website: rcdlc.org
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Sr. Marie-Paule Willem, F.M.M.c. 2013 – present
Franciscan Missionary of Mary; arrived at age 80 at the request of Bishop Oscar Cantú; credited with reviving the parish from near-closure to about 200 active families; 2018-19 Lumen Christi Award recipient.