The White Dove of the Desert

Mission San Xavier del Bac is known as the White Dove of the Desert and is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona. Rather than being a relic and tourist attraction, the Church is a functioning Catholic Mission. The statement of the Mission usage is as follows:

The Mission was created to serve the needs of the local community here, the village of Wa:k (San Xavier District) on the Tohono O'odham reservation, as it still does today. We have people from all over the country, and the world, wanting to have their special event here at the mission, and sometimes that can be accommodated, but the policy of the Mission church is to only do Marriages, Baptisms, etc. for the local community. Everyone is welcome to attend masses, special celebrations (like feast days), etc., but it is our belief that ones sacramental life should be shared within their local community.

Here is the Church's timeline:

1692 Father Kino visits the village of Wa:k
1700 Father Kino begins foundations on a church never built
1711 Father Kino dies in Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico
1756 Father Espinosa constructs the 1st church
1767 Jesuits are expelled from New Spain
1768 Spanish Franciscans take over the Mission
1783 Construction begins on the present church
1797 The Mission church is completed
1821 Spanish Franciscans leave
1846 Cooke's Mormon battalion passes by the Mission
1854 Gadsden Purchase puts the Mission inside the United States
1859 Santa Fe diocese begins first repairs of the Mission
1887 Earthquake damages the Mission
1905 Bishop Granjon begins major repairs
1913 Franciscans return to the Mission
1939 Lightning strikes the West Tower
1953 Church facade is restored
1963 San Xavier becomes a National Historic Landmark
1978 Patronato San Xavier established to preserve the Mission
1989 Leaking walls force emergency restoration
1992 Conservators begin a 5-year rescue effort of the interior