A crucifix that somehow survived a fire during the infamous 1980 prison riot at the old New Mexico State Penitentiary that saw 33 inmates killed and 12 corrections officers attacked, stabbed, beaten was handed over to the Archbishop of Santa Fe on Saturday (Dec. 18) by Corrections Secretary Joe Williams following a Christmas Mass at the state’s Central Correctional Facility in Los Lunas.
The crucifix orginally hung in the Catholic chapel at the old prison and during the course of the 2-day riot that is considered one of the worst in the nation’s history, a number of fires were set. One one of the blazes spread to the chapel, destroying a large portion of the structure but somehow, the flames avoided severely damaging the crucifix.
Williams, who is stepping down after 28 years as a corrections employee, discovered the crucifix in a storage room and displayed it in his office as corrections secretary. Now that he’s retiring, Williams thought it appropriate to give the crucifix to the Archdiocese.
The gesture was met with some criticism by some inside the corrections department who felt that the crucifix was not Williams’ to hand over. But Williams said he could find no tags identifying ownership of the crucifix and since the cross was displayed in what was then a Catholic chapel, the Archdiocese was the proper place for it to go.
Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan says he wants the crucifix to hang somewhere at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe:
