Honoring the Past
In 1967 Archbishop Lucey authorized the State of Texas to excavate the Catholic Campo Santo of Mission San Juan Capistrano in San Antonio Texas. Under the protest of the Mission families of San Francisco de la Espada and San Juan Capistrano, Archeologist Mardith Schueltz with the Witte Museum led the excavation and 92 Human Remains were removed. On October 29, 1999 the Archdiocese turned over 150 Human Remains from Mission San Juan Capistrano housed at the Center for Archeological Research at UTSA to members of the Tāp Pīlam Coahuiltecan Nation. On November 26, 1999 the remains are repatriated at the location of the unfinished chapel now referred to as Campo Santo from where there were removed. An all-night ceremony is held on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day each year to commemorate this historical event.
