Father Roca

In the fifty plus years that Father Casimiro Roca has lived in northern New Mexico he has come to symbolize, more than any living person, the heart and soul of El Santuario de Chimayo. In fact, he is the person most responsible for taking a decaying and forgotten chapel and saving it. In so doing, he preserved an unspeakably precious jewel for future generations. In the fifty years he has watched the tourists, pilgrims, and those in need of hope, who visit El Santuario each year grow from a small trickle to the tens of thousands who now make it their destination.

Below are links to articles written about Father Roca as well as the bigraphy of this remarkable man "A Long Journey for Two Short Legs" which is available at the Santuario Gift Shop:

Articles

Beloved Priest of Chimayo at Heart of Community by Kate McGraw
Fr. Casimiro Roca, SF, the father of Chimayo by Marie Pompeo

Book

A Long Journey for Two Short Legs

Photograph courtesy of Charles Sargent