Satevó Mission in Batopilas
Misión Angel Custodio de Satevó ‒Walk along the Batopilas River teeming with flowering plants, birds, and butterflies. Downriver about three miles is the antique mission of Satevó, standing tall and white against a backdrop of blue sky and rocky, rugged mountains. The large, three-domed church is estimated to have been built around 1760 or thereabouts. A fire in the 1880s destroyed all of the original papers. The church holds many mysteries. Nobody knows who built the mission. There are marked and unmarked graves beneath the stone flooring, and ochre colored patterns on the crumbling interior walls. Religious statues grace the mission’s altar, and during Semana Santa and Christmas, locals place festive paper flowers and candles on the altar.
The mission has amazing acoustics, and famous musicians such as Opera tenor singer Oscar Ortega and Jim Kline, classical guitarist, have held concerts in the ancient building. Sr. Ortega studied with Luciano Pavarotti, and has performed at Carnegie Hall. He also served as Manager at the Riverside Lodge in Batopilas. Kline invented the 19-string arch harp guitar and still performs all over the U.S. and Mexico.
Cusárare Mission in the Village of Cusárare
La Misión Los Santos Cinco Señores de Cusárare – The Cusárare Mission was built in the early 1700s by Jesuit priests and is still in use today by folks who live in and near the village of Cusárare. The mission church originally held a number of paintings depicting the life of Mary. These paintings were removed many years ago and only recently restored. Father Verplanken, a much-revered priest and friend to the Tarahumaras, was instrumental in restoration and building efforts. A museum was constructed near the mission and now houses these priceless paintings. The interior of the church is simply constructed with wooden floors and small altars. There is a skull on one side altar….they say it was the Jesuits who built the place. The doors are usually locked but there’s always somebody sitting on the step, ready to open the doors for a small donation. It’s a beautiful walk from the door of the Sierra Lodge.
If someone’s inside, please don’t take pictures. Same holds true throughout Tarahumara land. The Tarahumara think that images of them focus peoples thoughts on them in a particular moment and hinder their spiritual flexibility and growth.
Mexican Mission Brief History
The first recorded expedition was Francisco de Ibarra in 1565. The first Jesuit Catalan Joan de Fost in 1604, entered the hills to the Rio Papigochi valley, but was killed in an Indian rebellion in 1616. In 1622 Italian Father Pier Gian Custani, made the first baptisms. In 1640 another rebellion closed the missions for 40 years. Most of the existing mission churches were built in the 1700’s.
The forced imposition of western culture brought resistance, and many rebellions in the 16th and 17th centuries. Later, in the 19th century, it was the Apaches who raided the missions. More recently, the Jesuits were expelled for political reasons. Mission occupation by Europeans was spotty, and records of the dozens of sierra missions is incomplete or lost. Meantime, the Tarahumara added some catholic beliefs to their cosmology, and adapted some rituals. For centuries, they’ve used the missions as their own to commune with tata díos in their own way. The modern Jesuits attend these remote missions where possible, and deeply respect and support Tarahumara culture.
“I came to teach, but in time I realized I was here to learn.”
‒ Father Brambila S.J.
Poke around these missions but be careful…these are un-restored ruins!
A couple of years ago at this church in Batopilas, near the Riverside Lodge, a cow went up the front steps, down the aisle, behind the altar to the secretary’s office. By morning the cow had eaten two centuries of baptismal records.