The Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, filed a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from confiscating some of its land for border wall construction.
“The Diocesan property that the Government seeks to condemn is located at the base of Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico,” attorneys representing the diocese said in their lawsuit. “Atop the mountain sits a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ that serves as a shrine to thousands of faithful in the El Paso and Southern New Mexico area.”
“The mountaintop shrine is the site of annual pilgrimages,” the attorneys continued. “On the feast day of Christ the King each fall, as many as 40,000 faithful climb Mount Cristo Rey” for a Mass. “Some of the faithful make the five-mile journey barefooted, while fewer make the ascent on their knees.”