'Historic Catholic Churches of Northwest New Mexico' completes four-part series

The formidable Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in downtown Santa Fe is on the front cover of David Policansky’s newly released book of photographs, “Historic Catholic Churches of Northwestern New Mexico.”

Inside the book, the image of the cathedral’s exterior is repeated. On its facing page is the cathedral’s nave, showing the altar screen created in the 1980s by Franciscan artist Robert Lentz and one of the stations of the cross painted by contemporary santera Marie Romero Cash, according to a caption.

Adjoining the Cathedral Basilica is La Conquistadora Chapel, which dates to 1717. A caption states that the chapel is all that remains of the parish church that the cathedral replaced. A photo of the chapel is in the book.

The cathedral is a short walk to Loretto Chapel, the Old San Miguel Mission and the Santuario de Guadalupe. These buildings are probably the most famous of the historic Catholic churches in the city of Santa Fe.

The book is the fourth and final volume in a series covering the whole state.

Yet another famous historic Catholic church — this one in far northern Santa Fe County — is the Santuario de Chimayó, also referred to as Nuestro Señor de Esquípelas Catholic Church.

But the majority of the photographed churches in this book are outside of Santa Fe County. Many are modest in size and made of adobe.

Most are exterior images of historic Catholic churches in San Juan County, Los Alamos County and portions of seven other counties — Santa Fe, Taos, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Bernalillo, McKinley and Cibola counties.

Besides iglesias (churches), the book also presents chapels, several moradas, which are used by the Penitente Brotherhood communities, and the Christ in the Desert Monastery on the Chama River in Rio Arriba County just northwest of Ghost Ranch.

Perhaps one of the oldest churches in this volume is San José de Gracia Catholic Church in Las Trampas in Taos County. The book states the adobe church was originally built between 1760 and 1776 and was recently restored.

The first two volumes in the series — historic Catholic churches along the Rio Grande and those in central and southern New Mexico — were published in 2022. The third volume came out in 2023. It presented historic Catholic churches of the northeast part of the state.

For Policansky, a Mountainair resident, taking these photographs has clearly been a labor of love. And that labor has been eased by the many people he has met along the way.

In the introduction to the final volume, he acknowledged the help he’s received in photographing and accessing the churches.

Those people “have been kind, interesting, and eager to show me their churches, many of which have been cared for by members of their family for generations,” he writes.

Policansky emphasized that many of the rural churches depend for their survival on dedicated individuals and communities. He wondered what will happen to the churches as rural populations, and church memberships, continue to decline.

He estimated that there are more than 400 historic Catholic churches statewide and he’s tried to photograph all of them. He has mainly used a Canon 6D digital camera.

Policansky, a native of South Africa, retired to New Mexico after working as a senior program officer for the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., for 30 years.

He said in a phone interview, his church-photography project “sort of evolved. I started taking photographs. Then I decided I should learn more about the churches. Then I started taking it more seriously and continued.

“I’ve had good encouragement from some wonderful people, including pastors, the archdioceses and my wife,” he added.

Besides being entranced with the beauty of the architecture of the churches, the 80-year-old Policansky said he’s enjoyed listening to the stories parishioners have told him about their church.

As an aid for those interested in visiting the churches, Policansky has included highway designations in the captions.

In a larger sense, he hopes these four volumes will inspire readers to explore “New Mexico’s glorious landscapes.”

'Historic Catholic Churches of Northwest New Mexico' completes four-part series