About Our Lady Queen of Peace · Selma, Alabama
Our Lady Queen of Peace is the only Roman Catholic parish in Selma, Alabama, located at 309 Washington Street in the heart of the city's historic district. The parish is served by the Society of St. Edmund (S.S.E.) — the Edmundites — and belongs to the Archdiocese of Mobile. It grew out of the 1970–71 merger of the historically white Assumption parish (founded 1871) with the historically Black St. Elizabeth Mission (founded 1937), making Selma's Catholic community among the first in the American South to integrate. Today the parish shares its pastor with the sister Immaculate Conception parish in Orrville and continues the Edmundite missionary legacy of service to the poor of the Alabama Black Belt.
- Established
- 1871
- Patron
- Our Lady, Queen of Peace
- Rector
- Fr. Stephen Hornat, S.S.E.
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Mobile
Why belong here
Queen of Peace is Selma's only Catholic parish, and it carries a remarkable history: in 1970 it became one of the first Catholic congregations in the American South to integrate, when the historic Black St. Elizabeth's Mission and the white Assumption parish merged under the Edmundites. Worship is offered six days a week — Saturday Vigil at 4:00 PM, Sunday at 10:00 AM, and daily Mass Tuesday through Friday — with Eucharistic Adoration on Tuesdays, weekday confessions, an Adult Bible Study, and a Lenten tradition of Stations of the Cross and community meals in St. Andrew's Hall. The parish also remains the spiritual home of the Edmundite Southern Missions, which feeds around 1,000 free meals a day in Selma through the Center of Hope.
Mass times at Our Lady Queen of Peace
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday: 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM (or upon request)
- Sunday: 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM
- Tuesday: 8:00 AM – 8:20 AM
- Wednesday: 8:00 AM – 8:20 AM
- Thursday: 8:00 AM – 8:20 AM
- Friday: 8:00 AM – 8:20 AM
Adoration times
- Tuesday: 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM (followed by 5:30 PM daily Mass)
History of Our Lady Queen of Peace
Our Lady Queen of Peace is the historic Catholic parish of Selma, Alabama, and the spiritual center of the Edmundite Southern Missions. Its roots reach back to 1871, when the city's Assumption parish was dedicated; the Assumption church was built in part with stones from the Confederate Arsenal used during the Civil War and was served by Jesuit priests from 1880 to 1931. A second stream of the parish's identity came in 1937, when two young Edmundite priests, Fr. Francis Casey and Fr. John 'Barney' Paro, drove south from Vermont at the invitation of Mobile's Bishop Thomas J. Toolen to found St. Elizabeth's Mission for African Americans — the beginning of what became the Edmundite Southern Missions. In 1970 the two congregations were merged into Our Lady Queen of Peace at the call of the local bishop, making Selma's Catholics among the first in the Deep South to integrate. The parish marked the 150th anniversary of the church's dedication on October 10, 2021.
- 1871 — Our Lady of the Assumption parish dedicated on Washington Street
- 1880–1931 — Parish served by the Jesuits
- 1937 — Edmundite Fathers Casey and Paro found St. Elizabeth's Mission
- 1941 — Sisters of St. Joseph open St. Elizabeth's School
- 1943 — Holy Infant Inn (nursing home) opened
- 1944 — Edmundites purchase Good Samaritan Hospital
- 1947 — Fr. Nelson Ziter launches Don Bosco Boys' and Girls' Club
- 1950 — Good Samaritan School of Nursing opens
- 1965 — Edmundite-run Good Samaritan Hospital treats 'Bloody Sunday' victims
- 1970 — St. Elizabeth's and Assumption merge as Our Lady Queen of Peace
- 2021 — 150th anniversary of the church's dedication celebrated
The Edmundite Southern Missions & Civil Rights
The parish is the spiritual home of the Edmundite Southern Missions, founded in Selma in 1937 in response to Pope Pius XI's call for American religious orders to serve African Americans neglected by church and state. Over the decades the Missions opened the Good Samaritan Hospital and School of Nursing, the Don Bosco Boys' and Girls' Club, the Bosco Nutrition Center (a free daily meal program since 1986), rural health clinics, learning centers, and food pantries throughout the Black Belt. The Edmundites' vocal support of the Selma voting-rights movement — particularly after Edmundite-run Good Samaritan Hospital treated the marchers beaten on 'Bloody Sunday,' March 7, 1965 — made national headlines and led to Fr. Maurice Ouellet, S.S.E., being expelled from the state. The 2015 Jubilee Mass for the 50th anniversary of the marches was celebrated at Queen of Peace by Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi.
- Society of St. Edmund (S.S.E.) — founded in France in 1843, based in Vermont since 1930
- Center of Hope — serves ~1,000 free meals per day in Selma
- Good Samaritan Hospital legacy (1944–1983)
- Don Bosco Boys' and Girls' Club alumni include Bishop Moses Anderson
Devotions & Parish Life
Beyond the regular Mass and confession schedule, the parish keeps a strong Lenten rhythm: Stations of the Cross are prayed in the church on Fridays at 6:30 PM during Lent, and the parish hosts community meals in St. Andrew's Hall from 5:30–6:30 PM on the same evenings. An Adult Bible Study meets Wednesday evenings at 6:00 PM at 2511 Summerfield Road. The parish also gathers for the annual anniversary Mass of its 1871 dedication and other major feasts.
- Stations of the Cross — Fridays of Lent, 6:30 PM
- Lenten Friday Meals — 5:30–6:30 PM, St. Andrew's Hall
- Adult Bible Study — Wednesdays, 6:00 PM, 2511 Summerfield Road
Sister Parish: Immaculate Conception, Orrville
Our Lady Queen of Peace is twinned with Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in nearby Orrville, Alabama. The two parishes are served by one Edmundite pastor, allowing the Society of St. Edmund to maintain a Catholic presence in the surrounding rural Black Belt communities. Easter Sunday Mass, for example, is celebrated at 8:00 AM at Immaculate Conception in Orrville, in addition to the 10:00 AM Mass at Queen of Peace.
- Immaculate Conception, Orrville — served jointly with Queen of Peace
- Easter Sunday — 8:00 AM at Immaculate Conception; 10:00 AM at Queen of Peace
Staff & Clergy
The parish is staffed by members of the Society of St. Edmund (S.S.E.).
- Fr. Stephen Hornat, S.S.E. — Pastor (also serves Immaculate Conception, Orrville)
- Fr. Lino Oropeza, S.S.E. — Associate; assists with Hispanic ministry in the Archdiocese of Mobile
- Fr. Richard Myhalyk, S.S.E. — Pastor Emeritus; returned as homilist for the 150th anniversary Mass in 2021
- Parish Council — Beth Wilson has served as Parish Council President
Visit & Contact
The parish office is reached by phone at (334) 874-8931. The church and adjacent St. Andrew's Hall sit on Washington Street in downtown Selma; weekday gatherings like the Adult Bible Study use the parish's Summerfield Road location. The parish maintains an active Facebook page (facebook.com/QOPSelma) and posts bulletins online at qpselma.com.
- Address: 309 Washington St., Selma, AL 36703
- Phone: (334) 874-8931
- Website: https://qpselma.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QOPSelma/
- Adult Bible Study location: 2511 Summerfield Road
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Jesuit Fathers1880–1931
Served Our Lady of the Assumption parish before the Edmundites arrived.
- Fr. Richard Myhalyk, S.S.E.2006–c. 2020
Long-serving Edmundite pastor; later became the first lay-director predecessor as Missions Executive Director (handed off to Chad McEachern in 2012). Returned as homilist for the 150th anniversary Mass in October 2021.
- Fr. Stephen Hornat, S.S.E.c. 2020–present
Returned to Queen of Peace as pastor; also serves Immaculate Conception in Orrville. Previously Edmundite Superior General.