Church and Jesus statue caught in Trump’s border wall land fight
The US government is pursuing a land acquisition lawsuit against a Catholic Diocese to build a border wall near a historic statue of Jesus on Mount Cristo Rey. The project has faced significant local opposition and the waiving of federal environmental and historic preservation laws.
Why it matters
The conflict illustrates the tension between national border security policies and the protection of religious and historic sites.
A 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus sits atop Mount Cristo Rey in Lourdes Castanon, Mexico. More than 40,000 pilgrims from around the world journey to the sacred site annually where Texas, New Mexico and the Mexican state of Chihuahua meet. The statue has crowned the summit of the peak since 1939, when it was carved on-site by the Catalan sculptor Urbici Soler. While some arrive on Good Friday, others on the Feast of Christ the King, some are barefoot and others ascend on their knees.Pope Pius XI created the Feast of Christ the King in 1925, three years after Mussolini seized power in Italy, through the encyclical Quas Primas. The feast teaches the baptised that no state holds their final loyalty. A century later, the American government intends to run a steel wall beneath the statue that bears the feast’s name.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in