Despite the city of Santa Rosa in Guadalupe County having heavy Catholic influence in its founding, including that of Saint Rose of Lima, some who have been attacking Ten Commandments statues across the country are coming for images of Santa Rosa and Our Lady of Guadalupe in the small city of around 3,000 next.
A local resident, Herman Baca, reportedly “donated the painting [of Santa Rosa], by a Peruvian artist, to City Hall — where it hung for about 24 hours in the spring before calls to take it down prompted its removal.”
Baca also donated a monument of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the city, which was planned to be placed on a city-owned lawn a block from City Hall.
Santa Rosa de Lima is the patron saint of embroidery, gardening, and the cultivation of blooming flowers. She is also the first saint born in the Americas to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Mayor Nelson Kotiar placed the image of Santa Rosa in City Hall, but after an outcry from some residents, it was removed.
The Santa Fe New Mexican writes, “[Kotiar] noted a painting of Santa Rosa hangs in the county courthouse, and no one raises a fuss about it. Nor has anyone complained about a small bust of St. Joseph he displays in his office, he said.”
Attorney Andy Schultz, who helped rip down a Ten Commandments monument in Bloomfield, told the New Mexican, “The current status of the Establishment Clause jurisprudence is a mess,” while claiming conflicting case law makes the Catholic icons’ presence in Santa Rosa’s City Hall difficult.
“I am a devout Catholic and pray to Mary every single day, but that’s not where the painting belongs,” claimed gift shop owner Luisa Chappell.
“It’s an interesting question, right?” said State Historian Rob Martinez “We have so many Spanish and Mexican names [of towns and counties] that are shod through Roman Catholicism.” While some people may protest placing religious icons on public property, he said, “Locals say, ‘What’s the big deal? We’ve been doing Catholic imagery for centuries.’ ”
Many others see the monument of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the image of Santa Rosa as a big boost to the city’s identity and attractiveness to tourism, as well as paying homage to the historical events that led to the city of Santa Rosa’s creation.
Hey Santa Rosa! Could you all ask the one or two individuals who objected to this to remove yourself from your town. It’s a small town and probably everyone knows everyone so it would not be hard to know who these A**Holes are. Time to take a STAND!
I am not Catholic but this stuff is rediclous! All of northern New Mexico is a culture that helps give New Mexico it’s distractive flavor. If the majority of citizens don’t care leave it alone!!
Senator Pete Campos (D), deacon in a Catholic Church in Las Vegas, has roots in Santa Rosa. Let’s see if he has the backbone to speak out against this.
Isn’t this Leger-Fernandez’s district? She poses for pictures with the Blessed Mother. Why isn’t the Congresssman woman standing up for her “gente”.
Ben Ray Lujan, “first Hispanic senator to serve NM in more than 40 years”, so what? Stand up for Hispanic history.
MLG “12 generation New Mexican”, so what?
These politicans have used their Hispanic, and shamefully, their Catholic Christian roots as props to dupe northern New Mexicans voters.
this article is a lie!!!!!! a flat out, dishonest lie!! the mayor on his own, removed a memorial to an incredible lady that had been in place and approved by the city council for a very long time. he did not have the authority to replace an already standing memorial. the husband of the memorialized lady was upset and complained…that is why it was taken down. the mayor did not put this up for vote at a council meeting like he was supposed to. in fact, the mayor apologized and is paying to have the original memorial put back up. THIS WRITER IS A LIAR!!!!
“You can’t be catholic and vote dem”
Santa Rosa is almost entirely democrat and almost entirely catholic…What would Pete have to speak out against???? You took a lie of an article at face value without doing any research at all and then demonized any catholic who votes for a democrat?!?!? Really!!??
What a feckless thing to do. I’d suggest you try your best to understand a topic before writing on it.
This article can’t even get the very basics correct. That picture IS NOT of the county courthouse! If you can’t even get the simplest part of this correct, how can you be trusted with telling an honest story. Which, in fact, you are not doing! The Saint Rose was taken down because the mayor removed a memorial that had been approved by the city counsil on his own accord, without putting it up for a vote by the counsil. The husband of the lady who the memorial was dedicated to was upset by this and complained. The mayor apologized for his actions and is paying to have the previous memorial put back up. Of course, since you have a dishonest agenda, you ignore this fact and the several people who have responded also ignore it. Santa Rosa is an overly religous town with catholic iconography everywhere including government owned property and schools…it’s rare to have people complain about it (but since we are human and all have our own opinions, a few will complain). What you wrote is intentionally dishonest.
Also, to point out another simple fact…Santa Rosa is extremely liberal and always votes democrat, and, in fact, has one of the highest rates of registered democrats of any city in the state “Leftists” has nothing at all to do with this, it’s nonsense propaganda.