On Saturday, January 7th, at 10 a.m., the Most Reverend Mark J. Seitz, Bishop of El Paso, Texas, will rededicate the historic Ysleta Mission, home of the present-day Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish.

Ysleta Mission is considered to be the first (and oldest) mission established in Texas and the second oldest continually active parish in the United States. The Mission was founded in 1680 by Franciscan Missionaries and the New Mexico governor to provide temporary camps for Spanish and Tigua refugees fleeing from the New Mexico pueblos. In 1682, the Tigua people built a permanent mission from adobe. The mission was flooded in the 1740s and in 1829, and rebuilt each time. It was reconstructed on higher ground in the 1850s.

Fr. Miguel Briseno, OFM Conv.

In 1991, Bishop Raymundo Peña of El Paso transferred the responsibility of the Mission to the Conventual Franciscans. Fr. Miguel Briseño, OFM Conv., is the current pastor.

Fr. Miguel offers a blessing as two new council members of the Tigua Tribe receive the canes that are signs of their office and authority. (photo 2014, courtesy of Al Baeza)