The Carnuel mission church is a part of a larger parish. The main Church holy Child) is located in the mountains about 10 miles east of Albuquerque, Holy Child Parish was established on September 15, 1962 by Archbishop Byrne. The first pastor was Father John Fitzgerald, who served until January 29, 1967. The original church, Santo Niño, was a tiny adobe structure built in 1912 on Route 66. The pre
sent church, constructed in 1971 by parishioners, is a metal building on higher ground a mile to the east. Parishioners built a rectory in 1987 to the north of the church. In 1996, volunteers constructed a 3,760 square foot multipurpose building nearby. This permitted classrooms in the church to be replaced by additional seating to accommodate over 400 people at Sunday Masses. An office building was added between the church and the rectory at the beginning of 2000. The parish covers over 300 square miles and includes seven mission churches arranged as a cross along State Highway 14 and old Route 66. Holy Child Church in Tijeras is at the center of this cross. Five miles to the west lies Carnuel, whose church is also named Santo Niño (1960). Five miles to the east, in Sedillo, is the church San Isidro Labrador (1941). In succession, beginning two miles north of Tijeras on State Highway 14 are: San Antonio de Padua (1960) in the community of San Antonio; farther north and slightly west, San Lorenzo (c. 1870) in Cañoncito; and Señor de Mapimi (c. 1886) in San Antonito, approximately six miles north of Tijeras. Fifteen miles south of Tijeras on State Highway 337 (formerly South 14) is San Isidro de Labrador (c. 1932) in Escobosa, and twenty-two miles south is Capilla de San Juan Nepomuceno (1842) in Chilili. History of Santo Niño:
Although 24 families had settled at Carnuel in 1819 (originally formed as the village of San Miguel de Laredo in 1763), by 1880 there were only 10 families remaining. Apache Indian raids and a lack of water forced most of the population to gravitate to Albuquerque or San Antonio. Two chapels were built in Carnuel in the 1890s. A private chapel was built by Domingo Garcia to house the statue of San Miguel de Laredo, the village’s patron saint. It was torn down in the 1960s. Carnuel’s community church, Santo Niño, was built in 1898 at the west end of Carnuel, on land donated by Roman and Petra Herrera. The original stone church was enlarged with stone and adobe, then in the 1960s it was torn down and a larger church was built. In 1932 Father Libertine erected the large white cross on the hill across the freeway from the church. Father’s idea was to encourage travelers through the canyon to stop and meditate. Prior to construction of the Interstate, a religious procession walked from the church to the cross on the hill. Carnuel celebrates a San Miguel fiesta in September, and on May 3, a Triumph of the Cross fiesta together with the fiesta of Santo Niño.
