On June 7, the University of New Mexico’s Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections released the first portion of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Institutional Abuse Collection.
The documents include personnel files from 1968 to 2016 and depositions collected between 1991 and 2015. These materials show internal Church communications, reports of abuse and the response to decades of allegations from across the state.
The documents were released as part of a 400 sex abuse claimant and $121.5 million bankruptcy settlement involving the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, according to the National Catholic Reporter. The reorganization plan, approved in 2022, included monetary compensation as well as sexual abuse archives released to the public.
Rob Martínez — state historian, former Archdiocese employee and practicing Catholic — called the Catholic Church’s history with sexual abuse a “dark period” and said “people have a right to know.”
“It’s through documents that we learn about the past, that we learn what our ancestors did and what events shaped who we are today,” Martínez said. “People need to know about those events and those situations, because it impacts our children, it impacts our community, it impacts all of us.”
Though the documents detail events of the past, Emily Hicks, Clinical Director at the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico, warned that released details of sexual abuse could reactivate present-day trauma.
“When something like this becomes public, it can bring everything back up for people who thought they had moved on and that can set them back quite a bit,” Hicks said. “It doesn’t end at disclosure. Healing is a journey that can take a long time.”
The Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico has worked with individuals affected by institutional abuse, including cases tied to religious organizations, Hicks said.
“(Sexual abuse) impacts not only the individual survivor, but often their entire family — especially when the abuse happened in a faith setting they all shared,” Hicks said.
Survivors don't always realize how much support is needed when sexual abuse records get released to the public, Hicks said.
“We want survivors to know they’re not alone,” Hicks said.
CSWRSC plans to release further materials in July, depending on the process of the first batch, according to UNM Newsroom.
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The CSWRSC staff working on the collection consists of Portia Vescio, UNM’s university archivist as well as Avi Woontner, library information specialist, according to UNM Newsroom.
“We have to learn not just about our ancestors — but from our ancestors. All the good they did, yes, but the mistakes they made too. Even the ugly things. Especially the ugly things,” Martínez said.
Dylan Anthony is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobocom or on X @dailylobo
