About Holy Mary of Guadalupe · Healy, Alaska
Holy Mary of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Healy, Alaska, serves the Catholic community of the Denali Borough. Founded in 1982, the parish was built with volunteer help and dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe after a promise made by its founding pastor, Fr. Paul Mueller, S.J. The church is located near Denali National Park and along the Parks Highway, and is currently administered by Fr. Tom Kuffel, who serves as pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in Fairbanks. Services are held in multiple locations across the region, including Healy, Denali, and Nenana, with summer services featuring multiple Masses per Sunday.
- Established
- 1982
- Patron
- Holy Mary of Guadalupe
- Rector
- Fr. Tom Kuffel
- Diocese
- Diocese of Fairbanks
Why belong here
Join a parish that offers Masses in multiple locations across the Denali Borough, including Healy, Denali, and Nenana, with summer services featuring multiple Masses per Sunday. The parish provides sacraments, community fellowship, and spiritual support through visiting priests and deacons, and is deeply rooted in the history of Alaska’s Catholic communities.
Mass times at Holy Mary of Guadalupe
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- By appointment with visiting priests
Church History
Healy was formerly an Alaska Railroad station called Healy Forks and now is home to the Usibelli Coal Mine. It is conveniently located adjacent to Denali National Park and along the Parks Highway, the main road between Fairbanks and Anchorage. Originally, the Catholics of Healy were served by visiting priests from Nenana and Fairbanks. Around 1980, the Diocese of Fairbanks Building Committee, headed by Bishop Robert Whelan, S.J., decided that a new church with pastor's headquarters and attached parish hall should be built at Healy. Fr. Paul Mueller, S.J., was put in charge of building and financing the project. He received generous donations from the Catholic Extension Society and from the Jesuit Mission Associates. With the help of volunteers, Fr. Mueller built the church complex which was completed in 1982. Some of the volunteers who helped in construction were two of his nephews, Anthony Mueller then 24, and his brother Paul, 20 years old, of Waldport, Oregon. The two men were both skilled carpenters. The church was designed by Mr. Ron Kunkel, a former Jesuit Volunteer, with the idea that it would serve as space for fellowship and worship. A newly constructed rectory is located next to the church. The Parish was at first informally called Our Lady of the Mountain. However, in 1980, the name was changed to Holy Mary of Guadalupe. Fr. Mueller dedicated the church to Holy Mary so that a promise would be fulfilled after he visited the Shrine to Holy Mary of Guadalupe in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some of the priests who have served Healy and other small communities along the 'rail belt' like Cantwell, Anderson, Denali National Park (summers) as well as Clear Airforce Base were: diocesan priests Frs. Robert Dunn, John Hinsvark, Al Levitre, Jack de Verteuil, Patrick Bergquist, Mariusz Wirkowski, and Fredrick Bayler. Before Diocesan priests arrived in Healy, many Jesuit priests, too numerous to be mentioned here, also ministered to Healy and surrounding Catholic communities.
Our Priest
Currently, Fr. Tom Kuffel, pastor at Immaculate Conception Church 110 miles north in Fairbanks, serves as administrator of the Healy parish.
Summer Services
Saturday, May 30th - Sunday, September 6th: Saturday: 5:00pm Mass/Communion Service in Healy. Sunday: 9:00am Mass/Communion Service in Denali. Sunday: 11:00am Mass/Communion Service in Healy. Sunday: 1:30pm Mass/Communion Service in Nenana. The 9:00am Denali Service is located near Denali National Park & Preserve at Holland America Denali Lodge. The location of this service is the Gold Nugget dinner theater building. You can use the property shuttle and be dropped off for a short walk.
Winter Services
September-May: Sunday: 10:00am Mass/Communion Service in Healy (Holy Mary of Guadalupe). Sunday: 1:30pm Mass/Communion Service in Nenana (St. Theresa Catholic Church).
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Paul Mueller, S.J.1980-1982
Built the church and dedicated it to Holy Mary of Guadalupe after a pilgrimage to Guadalajara, Mexico.