Non-Protestant Work
Roman Catholic
The Roman Catholic work is the strongest non-Protestant religious activity
in all the four counties and naturally has a large number of foreign-born
and Spanish-American communicants in its parishes. There is a total of
twenty-four organized Catholic churches. Beaverhead County has two, Hughes
three, Sheridan five and Union fourteen. The city of Sheridan, and each of
the towns supports a Catholic church; eight are located in villages, two
of which are in Sheridan mining camps, and twelve in small hamlets. Nine
priests, seven of whom live in these counties, serve the twenty-four
churches. Four churches, two in villages and two in small hamlets, are
served by priests living outside the county.
[Illustration: AN OASIS IN THE DESERT
The grounds in which this Catholic Church and parsonage stand make this
the only spot of verdure in a barren waste extending for miles on every
side.]
Each of the twenty-four churches has a building. There are six priests'
houses, valued at $21,000, and two parochial school buildings. The value
of church buildings is estimated at a total value of $98,800. The total
value of church property, including land, is $211,025. None of the
churches have any social equipment. The total receipts of all the churches
last year amounted to $23,157.56 and this amount was spent largely on
salaries and church upkeep. The only churches receiving aid are two in
Union, each of which received $500. The average salary is $892.
[Illustration: ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES AND PARISHES, UNION COUNTY, NEW
MEXICO]
The total membership is about 5,152, which is within 668 of the total
Protestant figure for seventy churches. The average total membership is
215 per church. Only three of the twenty-four churches have as few as
fifty members or less.
Thirteen churches have Catechism and Confirmation classes, with a total
enrollment of 416. Attendance is high; it equals 77 per cent. of the
enrollment. There are seventeen other organizations, three for men, ten
for women, one for boys, one for girls and two for young people. The total
enrollment is 771. The church in Sheridan has a parochial school.
Catholic church membership increased more rapidly than the Protestant in
Beaverhead and Hughes and less rapidly in Sheridan from 1890 to 1916,
according to the United States religious census. In Union, from 1906 to
1916, the Protestant membership increased more rapidly than the Catholic.
Catholic membership is greater than Protestant membership in every county
but Hughes. There are a total of nineteen Catholic mission centers in
Union and Beaverhead.
Penitentes
There are about five groups of Penitentes in Union County, with an average
of twenty-five members each. No women belong. The Penitentes are all
Spanish-Americans and are largely sheep and cattle herders. Their small
adobe and stone buildings are called "morada." Meetings are held in Lent,
on the last three days of Holy Week. During the ceremonies, members
inflict personal punishment, often carrying it to an extreme. This sect,
which was at one time distributed over the whole territory of New Mexico,
since 1850 has retreated towards the north. As to their origin, Twitchell
in his "History of New Mexico" says: "It is possible that the Penitentes,
particularly by their scourging themselves with whips made of cactus, come
from the order of Flagellants which was a body of religious persons who
believed by whipping and scourging themselves for religious discipline
they could appease the divine wrath against their sins and the sins of the
age." The Penitentes are not recognized by the Catholic Church.
Latter Day Saints
Dillon, in Beaverhead, and the city of Sheridan, each have a Mormon
church. There is a church building in Dillon, and the one in Sheridan is
now being erected. There is also an inactive church at Lima, organized in
1900. The Mormon membership is eighty-five in Dillon and thirty-six in
Sheridan. Both churches have Sunday schools, with a total enrollment of
seventy and relief societies with a total membership of thirty-five.
Christian Science
There are two Christian Science churches, located in Dillon and in the
city of Sheridan, both organized in 1919. The Dillon church meets in an
office, but the Sheridan church has a building valued at $2,500. The
church membership is about 170. Both churches have Sunday schools, with an
enrollment of about thirty in Dillon and about fifty in Sheridan.
Theosophical
The city of Sheridan has a Theosophical Society which meets in a real
estate office. The membership is seventeen. Six new members were taken in
last year. Meetings are held every Friday night. Two meetings a month are
for members only, and two are public lectures.