Our Lady of Guadalupe

Parish Identity and Heritage

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church is a Roman-Latin rite parish of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, located at 715 West 300 North on the west side of Salt Lake City, Utah. The parish takes its name from Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of Mexico and of the broader Hispanic Catholic world — and, by extension, one of the two co-patrons of the Diocese of Salt Lake City itself.

History of the Parish

The parish grew out of a Spanish-language mission begun in 1920 at Saint Patrick's Parish by Father Francis Alva, who celebrated Mass in Spanish for the growing Hispanic Catholic community and asked the diocese for a separate mission-style church named for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Through the 1920s and early 1930s, a series of Spanish-speaking priests — including Father Perfecto Arrellano from 1927 — and Mexican religious sisters known as Las Madres sustained the mission's school programs. In 1930 Father Collins arrived, learned Spanish, and guided the community through the Great Depression. By 1944 the mission had more than 1,800 members and was raised to parish status; the church was dedicated on May 16, 1948.

• 1920 — Father Francis Alva begins Spanish Masses at Saint Patrick's Parish
• 1927 — Father Perfecto Arrellano joins the Spanish-speaking mission
• 1930 — Father Collins assigned; learns Spanish and serves through the Depression
• 1944 — Mission formally established as Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish
• 1948 — Current church dedicated on May 16, 1948
• 1961 — Father Jerald Merrill arrives and begins community organizing
• 1966 — Guadalupe Center opens under the parish's sponsorship

Clergy and Staff

The parish is led by a bilingual pastoral team serving both its English-speaking and Spanish-speaking communities.

• Reverend Jorge Roldan-Sanchez — Pastor
• Deacon Moises Ruiz
• Parish office: (801) 364-2019

Pastoral Lineage

The parish's priestly leaders from its mission origins onward have shaped its identity as a Hispanic-serving community. The earliest known leaders include Father Francis Alva (who began Spanish Masses in 1920), Father Perfecto Arrellano (from 1927), Father Collins (from 1930), and Father Jerald (H.) Merrill, who served from 1961 and went on to found the Guadalupe Center.

• Father Francis Alva — began Spanish-language Masses, 1920
• Father Perfecto Arrellano — joined the mission, 1927
• Father Collins — served from 1930, learned Spanish in ministry
• Father Jerald (H.) Merrill — served from 1961, founded the Guadalupe Center

Community Outreach and the Guadalupe Center

Our Lady of Guadalupe has long been more than a place of worship — it has been the organizational and social anchor of Salt Lake City's Hispanic community. In meetings at the mission, members of SOCIO (the Spanish Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity, and Opportunity) organized in the mid-twentieth century to advocate for Hispanic welfare in Utah. In 1961, Father Jerald Merrill and the Guadalupana Society launched the precursor to the Guadalupe Center in a rented room beneath the Rio Grande Hotel. The larger Guadalupe Center opened at 346 West 100 South in 1966, eventually adding La Morena Café, the Westside Catholic Credit Union, the Voluntary Improvement Program (English and skills classes), the Guadalupe Primary School, and an Early Learning Center. In 2014 the Guadalupe Center moved into a unified building in Rose Park and now serves more than 1,000 adults and children each year.

• Birthplace of SOCIO and other Hispanic-advocacy initiatives in Utah
• Founding parish of the Guadalupe Center (1966)
• La Morena Café — community restaurant and fundraiser
• Guadalupe Primary School and Early Learning Center
• Adult Education (ESL and citizenship classes) and family support programs