Our Lady of Guadalupe

About this parish

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), located at 2405 Navigation Blvd. in Houston's historic Second Ward (el Segundo Barrio), is the oldest Mexican-American Catholic parish in Houston and a part of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Founded in 1912 by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate to serve the Spanish-speaking faithful during the Mexican Revolution influx, it is widely known as the 'Mother Church' of the Hispanic Catholic community in Houston and today serves about 3,500 families. Since 1973 the parish has been staffed by the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians/SCJ), and the campus also houses Our Lady of Guadalupe School — the oldest Catholic grade school in the city — and the historic St. Vincent's Cemetery. The parish motto, 'Nuestra Casa es Su Casa' ('Our House is Your House'), and its 1991 Texas Historical Marker reflect more than a century of ministry to a predominantly Hispanic East End congregation.

Houston was founded in 1836 when the Allen Brothers landed on the banks of Buffalo Bayou about a mile northwest of the present parish site. The Archdiocese (then Diocese) of Galveston had owned the parcel on which Our Lady of Guadalupe now stands since about 1856, when the property included what is still St. Vincent's Cemetery, the oldest Catholic cemetery in Houston. By 1910 there were no Mexican Catholic churches in Houston, and ethnic Mexicans who tried to attend Anglo churches in the city were often excluded — turned away at the door, or seated in the back pews (sometimes with signs reading 'Mexicans prohibited'), and refused admission to parish schools. The Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) triggered a great influx of Mexicans to Houston. In 1911 the Diocese of Galveston invited a series of priests from the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) — an order 'known to have the spirit and the tradition of working in the most difficult missions' — to minister to this population. The Oblates first settled in the Magnolia Park neighborhood, founding Immaculate Conception as their home base, but it was not a Mexican national church. To provide a parish that welcomed Mexicans and their cultural traditions of Catholicism without offending Anglo parishioners accustomed to racial separation, Bishop Nicholas Gallagher and the Oblates simultaneously established a second mission in the Second Ward. Our Lady of Guadalupe was formally opened in 1912. The first Mass was celebrated on August 18, 1912, by Father Robert Chatillon, OMI, in a two-story wood-frame building erected that same year as a gift from the Catholic Church Extension Society; the church occupied the upper floor and the school the lower floor. Three weeks later, on September 8, 1912, the school opened with 30 pupils, staffed by the Sisters of Divine Providence — making it the oldest Catholic grade school in the City of Houston, an honor it retains today. Father Esteban de Anta, OMI, a Spanish priest who arrived in 1919, was the parish's first Spanish-speaking priest and the third pastor; together with Sister Benitia Vermeersch he is credited with building up Catholic ministry among Houston's ethnic Mexican community. In 1923, a new Lombard Romanesque style church designed by the prominent San Antonio architect Leo M.J. Dielmann was built, and the original frame building was remodeled to serve entirely as the school and for parish social activities. In the 1920s the parish drew Louisiana Creole families from the Frenchtown section of the Fifth Ward (the closest church, St. Nicholas in the Third Ward, was Black). Discriminatory treatment at OLG — being made to confess and receive Communion only after other races and being seated in the back pews — led the Creole community to found Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in 1929. The Oblates continued to staff Our Lady of Guadalupe for decades. In the 1980s the parish transitioned from a national/'ethnic' parish to a territorial parish with geographic boundaries, though it has remained heavily Mexican-American and Latino. In 1973 the Oblates turned the parish over to the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians, SCJ), who continue to staff it; a transition that coincided with renewed pastoral and educational growth. On April 18, 1991, the Texas Historical Commission and the Houston Historical Society dedicated an official State Historical Marker on the church grounds 'attesting to the role Our Lady of Guadalupe has played in the development of the Mexican-American community in Houston' and noting that 'the spirit of this community has always been one of welcoming.' On August 18, 2012 the parish celebrated 100 years of Masses with a centennial Mass and subsequent anniversary events; at that time the school enrolled more than 500 students drawn from over 30 Houston-area zip codes. By the 2020s the parish has continued outreach programming including food and shelter assistance, a Director of Religious Education / OCIA (formerly RCIA) program, quinceañera preparation, and other Hispanic ministries, while remaining one of the poorest Catholic parishes in Greater Houston.

Founded

1912

Patron

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe)

Pastor

Fr. Jerzy (George) Mordalski, SCJ

Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Catholic parish in Houston, Texas, part of the Galveston-Houston.