AN OASIS IN THE DESERT

The grounds in which this Catholic Church and parsonage stand make this the only spot of verdure in a barren waste extending for miles on every side.

Each of the twenty-four churches has a building. There are six priests’ houses, valued at $21,000, and two parochial school buildings. The value of church buildings is estimated at a total value of $98,800. The total value of church property, including land, is $211,025. None of the churches have any social equipment. The total receipts of all the churches last year amounted to $23,157.56 and this amount was spent largely on salaries and church upkeep. The only churches receiving aid are two in Union, each of which received $500. The average salary is $892.

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES AND PARISHES, UNION COUNTY, NEW MEXICO

The total membership is about 5,152, which is within 668 of the total Protestant figure for seventy churches. The average total membership is 215 per church. Only three of the twenty-four churches have as few as fifty members or less.

Thirteen churches have Catechism and Confirmation classes, with a total enrollment of 416. Attendance is high; it equals 77 per cent. of the enrollment. There are seventeen other organizations, three for men, ten for women, one for boys, one for girls and two for young people. The total enrollment is 771. The church in Sheridan has a parochial school.

Catholic church membership increased more rapidly than the Protestant in Beaverhead and Hughes and less rapidly in Sheridan from 1890 to 1916, according to the United States religious census. In Union, from 1906 to 1916, the Protestant membership increased more rapidly than the Catholic. Catholic membership is greater than Protestant membership in every county but Hughes. There are a total of nineteen Catholic mission centers in Union and Beaverhead.

Penitentes

There are about five groups of Penitentes in Union County, with an average of twenty-five members each. No women belong. The Penitentes are all Spanish-Americans and are largely sheep and cattle herders. Their small adobe and stone buildings are called “morada.” Meetings are held in Lent, on the last three days of Holy Week. During the ceremonies, members inflict personal punishment, often carrying it to an extreme. This sect, which was at one time distributed over the whole territory of New Mexico, since 1850 has retreated towards the north. As to their origin, Twitchell in his “History of New Mexico” says: “It is possible that the Penitentes, particularly by their scourging themselves with whips made of cactus, come from the order of Flagellants which was a body of religious persons who believed by whipping and scourging themselves for religious discipline they could appease the divine wrath against their sins and the sins of the age.” The Penitentes are not recognized by the Catholic Church.

Latter Day Saints

Dillon, in Beaverhead, and the city of Sheridan, each have a Mormon church. There is a church building in Dillon, and the one in Sheridan is now being erected. There is also an inactive church at Lima, organized in 1900. The Mormon membership is eighty-five in Dillon and thirty-six in Sheridan. Both churches have Sunday schools, with a total enrollment of seventy and relief societies with a total membership of thirty-five.

Christian Science

There are two Christian Science churches, located in Dillon and in the city of Sheridan, both organized in 1919. The Dillon church meets in an office, but the Sheridan church has a building valued at $2,500. The church membership is about 170. Both churches have Sunday schools, with an enrollment of about thirty in Dillon and about fifty in Sheridan.

Theosophical

The city of Sheridan has a Theosophical Society which meets in a real estate office. The membership is seventeen. Six new members were taken in last year. Meetings are held every Friday night. Two meetings a month are for members only, and two are public lectures.