Wester criticizes Trump for post about Pope Leo - Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
President Donald Trump's Sunday night social media attack on Pope Leo XIV suggests that the president views religion as a "political cudgel" rather than an instrument of peace, Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester said Monday.
Trump on Sunday unleashed a lengthy post criticizing the pope as "WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy," and calling on Pope Leo to end his criticisms of the president's military actions in Iran and Venezuela.
"The pope has every right to speak about peace and dialog and discussion to solve our problems rather than going to war or using power or might or violence," Wester said Monday in a phone interview.
"If people don't want to hear it, that's their prerogative," Wester said. "But the pope has the obligation and the responsibility to proclaim the Gospel in the public square, and he does it well.”
Wester also said Trump's 334-word social media tirade, posted at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, "was filled with falsehoods and unsubstantiated accusations" such as his comments that Pope Leo is "Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons."
"It all boils down to ... whether you view religion through the lens of power or through the lens of morality," Wester said. "Religion is not meant to be a political cudgel. It's meant to be an invitation to respond to God's love for us by loving God and loving our neighbor and all that that implies."
Wester also said Pope Leo has shown his support for peace as a former missionary who spent more than two decades in Peru. "I think his life certainly indicates that his ministry is one that is dedicated to peace."
The first U.S.-born pope has become a vocal critic of the Iran war and used his Easter message to called on leaders to "abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power."
Trump told reporters outside the Oval Office on Monday that he would not apologize for his attacks on Pope Leo, saying "I'm just responding to Pope Leo. There's nothing to apologize for. He's wrong."
Wester is one of many Christian leaders who has pushed back against Trump's attack, including Pope Leo himself. On his flight to Algeria on Monday, Pope Leo told journalists, "I have no fear of the Trump administration speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I am here to do, what the Church is here to do. I don't want to get into a debate with Trump."
Wester said Pope Leo's criticism appears to be getting under the president's skin.
"I think the president's post kind of indicates that perhaps the pope is getting to the heart of the matter, and the president doesn't like that," Wester said, suggesting that Pope Leo's comments are making Trump "feel a little uncomfortable and defensive."
"I guess certain people, when they think they're the center of the universe, they think everything revolves around them. But that's just not true," he said.
New Mexico Republicans' headquarters vandalized - Nakayla McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
The Republican Party of New Mexico had its headquarters vandalized after a rock was thrown through the window of the Albuquerque building over the weekend.
“I am enraged and flabbergasted that this continues to be something we deal with,” said GOP Chairwoman Amy Barela in a statement posted on Facebook. “Someone could have been seriously injured as a result of this senseless act of political violence.”
Employees were not in the office in the 5100 block of San Francisco NE when the incident occurred and it is unknown exactly when it happened, according to GOP executive director Leticia Muñoz. Staff were unaware of the vandalism until they walked into the office early Monday morning and saw the damage, she said.
In a video sent to the Journal, a fist-sized rock was shown on the ground with shards of glass on the floor and table of the building. A candle and various office supplies appeared to have been scattered around the office.
Muñoz said surveillance footage captured a man walking near RPNM headquarters over the weekend, but she was unsure if that was the only time a person had been near the building throughout the weekend.
“We’re still going through some of the cameras to see if there’s anyone else and the FBI is coming in a little bit so they can ask the businesses across the street,” she said.
Muñoz said that while she was unsure of the person’s motives, she believed the vandalism was an act of political violence.
“I think people think we’re going to be so scared that we’re going to stop doing the work that we do,” she said. “We know it’s hate; we know it’s derangement. We know that it can be a dangerous job, especially after the fire bomb, but we’re not going to be deterred from doing our work.”
Muñoz was referring to an arson attack at the headquarters a year ago, which led to criminal charges.
The Democratic Party of New Mexico issued a statement in response to the incident, saying that they were “very concerned that another act of vandalism occurred at the Republican Party of New Mexico headquarters.”
“Having recently experienced our office being vandalized ourselves, we know how troubling this is,” DPNM wrote in a statement posted on Facebook. “Our hearts are with the RPNM team today. We hope whoever is responsible is found and held accountable.”
In February, DPNM had its headquarters broken into after a person smashed through the front door and took multiple items from the building.
In March 2025, the RPNM entryway was destroyed after an alleged arsonist started a fire and painted “ICE=KKK” on the side of the building.
The alleged arsonist, Jamison Wagner, was charged with two counts of malicious damage or destruction of property by fire or explosives and faces up to 20 years in prison per count if convicted. He was accused of vandalizing the RPNM office and a Tesla showroom.
Court sets trial in NM State Ethics Commission suit against former WNMU president - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico A New Mexico judge scheduled a jury trial for next summer in the State Ethics Commission’s lawsuit against former Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard.
The Commission sued Shepard last year and accused him of taking money intended for Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant construction projects and instead using it to build a patio near his on-campus house where he could host a welcome event for his daughter’s wedding. Shepard resigned from his post as university president in late 2024 after news reports and the Office of the State Auditor detailed how he and other university officials used taxpayer money on international trips and luxury furniture.
First Judicial District Court Judge Francis Mathew last week ordered both sides to participate in mediation or settlement talks by Dec. 28. If that does not resolve the dispute, a trial will begin on June 28, 2027, court records show.
Lawyers for the commission and for Shepard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Shepard also faces a legal challenge from the New Mexico Department of Justice and Attorney General Raúl Torrez. Source NM previously reported that the attorney general’s case against Shepard and the university, which was filed in January of 2025, would begin mediation early this year. Court records show, though, that such talks have apparently been slowgoing.
A joint status report filed earlier this month said that a full-day mediation session with Judith Nakamura, a former chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, and Kent Walz, a former editor of the Silver City Daily Press and the Albuquerque Journal, “produced no resolution.”
The university’s Board of Regents last month hired a new president. J. Dean Reed, the board’s treasurer, at the time told Source NM that university officials had to “earn back the trust of everyone.”
NM State Land Office announces 60,000 acres of state trust land protected from development - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The state Land Office and New Mexico Land Conservancy announced Monday they’d entered into an agreement to protect more than 60,000 acres in southern New Mexico from future large developments for the next 75 years.
Under the agreement, known as a “conservation easement,” the New Mexico Land Conservancy will pay the State Land Office to protect a roughly 100-square-mile parcel of land in Socorro and Torrance counties known as Turkey Ridge. Early last year, the conservancy entered and the Land Office agreed to protect an adjacent, 60,000-acre parcel known as Chupadera Mesa.
The combined 120,000-acre parcel is the second biggest property protected by a conservation easement in New Mexico, according to the State Land Office. The largest is the Armendaris Ranch, owned by billionaire philanthropist Ted Turner, also in southern New Mexico.
Joey Keefe, a spokesperson for the State Land Office, told Source NM on Monday that the Conservancy will pay the Land Office roughly $3.2 million for the easement, an amount that represents how much the Land Office would have received had the property been leased to developers to construct large, obtrusive projects like wind turbines, for example, he said.
The funding will go toward New Mexico education and other public institutions, according to the Land Office.
The agreement does not affect existing grazing leases in the area, and it allows the nearby officials at the nearby White Sands Missile Range to continue testing and training missions nearby, according to a news release Monday from the State Land Office.
In a news release Monday, Brian Knight, the range’s Environmental Division chief, said the agreement safeguards “vital testing airspace while providing permanent protection for the cultural heritage and natural beauty of the Land of Enchantment.”
Keefe told Source NM on Monday that the agreement shows the benefit of allowing state or federal entities tasked with overseeing public lands to place conservation on an equal footing with oil and gas extraction as beneficial uses.
On a federal level, the Interior Department last September announced it intended to rescind the “Public Lands Rule,” which ensured conservation of public lands received due consideration along with mining, timber, grazing, recreation or other uses on federal public lands.
But in New Mexico, Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard continues to value conservation as one of many valid uses of state lands, Keefe said.
“It’s something that not a lot of states are doing,” he said. “It’s just kind of a cool approach to conserving state lands and ensuring that beneficiaries get some payment for it.”
Taos inaugural Community Action Fair set for April 14 - Taos News
Taos United, along with other organizations, will host a Community Action Fair in northern New Mexico on Tuesday.
The Taos News reports organizers plan for this year’s fair to be the first iteration of an annual event.
The event is designed to help connect volunteers with local service-based organizations. In a press release, organizers said the event is an opportunity for locals to answer the question: “How can I help my community?”
Nearly 30 local nonprofits and service-based organizations will be on site.
Participating groups address issues including food insecurity, housing, healthcare access, freedom of speech, arts and creativity, social service access, animal welfare, youth and elder services, education access, environmental protection, and veteran services.
The fair is scheduled for 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at Bataan Hall, located at 121 Civic Plaza Dr. in Taos.