About Our Lord of Mercy · Hatch, New Mexico
Our Lord of Mercy is a Roman Catholic parish in Hatch, New Mexico — the small farming town famous as the 'Chile Capital of the World.' It belongs to the Diocese of Las Cruces and is pastorally linked with the mission church of Our Lady of All Nations in nearby Rincon. The parish serves a community that is roughly 90% Hispanic, with most working families tied to the chile harvests that surround the church. Weekends feature a vigil Mass, two Sunday Masses in Spanish, and an English Sunday Mass at the Rincon mission, alongside daily Mass and a strong tradition of Eucharistic Adoration and First Saturday Nocturnal Adoration.
- Established
- 1963
- Patron
- Our Lord of Mercy (Divine Mercy)
- Rector
- Rev. Ivan Torres
- Diocese
- Diocese of Las Cruces (Las Cruces Vicariate)
Why belong here
Our Lord of Mercy is a bilingual, family-sized parish rooted in the working farm community of the Hatch Valley, where five weekend Masses are celebrated (with two in Spanish and one at the Rincon mission) and where a young, energetic pastor knows most parishioners by name. The parish offers strong sacramental preparation — Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and year-round RCIA/RCIC — alongside an active youth ministry and high school club that meet in the parish and the local schools. Its robust schedule of daily and nightly Eucharistic Adoration, including the First Saturday Nocturnal Adoration from 10 pm to Sunday morning, makes it a true spiritual anchor in rural southern New Mexico.
Mass times at Our Lord of Mercy
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Tuesday: 5:00 PM – 5:20 PM
- Wednesday: 5:00 PM – 5:20 PM and 6:00 PM – 6:50 PM
- Thursday: 5:00 PM – 5:20 PM
- Friday: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM
- Saturday: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Adoration times
- Monday: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
- Tuesday: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
- Wednesday: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
- Thursday: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
- Friday: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM
- First Saturdays: 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM (Nocturnal Adoration until Sunday 7 AM)
Parish Overview
Our Lord of Mercy is the Catholic parish of Hatch, New Mexico, in the Diocese of Las Cruces. It is paired on the same pastoral team with the Mission Church of Our Lady of All Nations in Rincon. Together they form a bilingual, mission-minded community that serves the farmworkers and families of the Hatch Valley.
- Parish: Our Lord of Mercy, Hatch
- Mission: Our Lady of All Nations, Rincon
- Diocese: Las Cruces (Las Cruces Vicariate)
- Pastoral team: Fr. Ivan Torres, Deacon Tim Flynn
History & Heritage
The parish was built in 1963 to serve the Hispanic farmworker families of the Hatch Valley. Its growth has tracked the rise of the chile industry, and it has become a regional hub for sacramental life and Hispanic Catholic devotion in southern New Mexico.
- Church building completed: 1963
- Approximately 300 registered families
- Supported by the Catholic Extension Society for religious education
Parish Staff
The parish is currently led by a young pastor raised in Las Cruces, assisted by a deacon who also works in the chile industry.
- Pastor: Rev. Ivan Torres
- Deacon: Tim Flynn
- Former pastor: Rev. Alejandro Reyes
Sacraments of Initiation
The parish prepares children and adults for the three Sacraments of Initiation — Baptism, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation — through a catechumenate-style formation process. Year-round classes are offered for both children and adults seeking to enter or deepen their life in the Church.
- Baptism preparation
- First Communion preparation
- Confirmation preparation (High School Confirmation)
- Pre-Confirmation classes
- RCIA (adults) and RCIC (children)
Faith Formation & Youth Ministry
Religious education at Our Lord of Mercy is funded in part by grants from the Catholic Extension Society and is staffed largely by lay volunteers. The youth ministry runs a weekly high school club and reaches out into the local schools, in keeping with the parish's mission to meet young people where they are.
- RCIA / RCIC
- Pre-Confirmation and Confirmation
- First Communion
- Youth Ministry and high school club
Outreach to Migrant Farmworkers
Because Hatch's economy revolves around the chile harvest, the parish has a long tradition of bringing the sacraments directly to migrant workers. Pastors have celebrated Mass in the fields and pitched tents for confessions, while the parish hosts food booths at the Hatch Chile Festival to raise funds for new classrooms.
- Field Masses during chile harvest
- Outdoor confessions for farmworkers
- Festival gordita booths funding parish classrooms
- Pastoral care coordinated with Deacon Tim Flynn of the chile industry
Mission Church: Our Lady of All Nations, Rincon
Our Lord of Mercy pastors the Mission Church of Our Lady of All Nations in nearby Rincon, where an English-language Sunday Mass is celebrated at 9:30 AM.
- Location: Rincon, NM (Doña Ana County)
- Sunday English Mass: 9:30 AM
- Under the pastoral care of Fr. Ivan Torres
Diocese of Las Cruces
Our Lord of Mercy belongs to the Las Cruces Vicariate of the Diocese of Las Cruces, which was created in 1982 and currently serves southern New Mexico under Bishop Peter Baldacchino.
- Diocese: Las Cruces
- Vicariate: Las Cruces Vicariate
- Vicar Forane: Very Rev. Christopher Williams
- Bishop: Peter Baldacchino (since 2019)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Alejandro Reyes
Past pastor under whom the parish ran festival food booths and field-Mass ministry to chile farmworkers; supported by Catholic Extension Society.
- Rev. Ivan Torres2020 – present (as pastor of Hatch and Rincon mission)
Las Cruces native ordained June 19, 2020; appointed pastor of Our Lord of Mercy and Our Lady of All Nations, Rincon.