About San Pedro · Brownsville, Texas
San Pedro Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic quasi-parish (mission) located at 7602 Old Military Road in Brownsville, Texas, belonging to the Diocese of Brownsville. Established in 2017, it serves Catholic families in the north Brownsville and Olmito area of Cameron County, in the Rio Grande Valley. The parish is distinctive for its bilingual and Spanish Mass schedule and for its innovative outreach through a Capilla Móvil (Mobile Chapel), a refurbished trailer that brings Mass and the sacraments to outlying colonia communities that cannot easily reach the church. Pastored by Rev. Manoj Kumar Nayak, SS.CC since 2024, the parish carries as its motto "We Come to World for Serving & Sharing."
- Established
- 2017
- Patron
- Saint Peter (San Pedro)
- Rector
- Rev. Manoj Kumar Nayak, SS.CC
- Diocese
- Diocese of Brownsville
Why belong here
San Pedro offers a bilingual Catholic home for families in north Brownsville and Olmito, with weekday evening Masses, three Sunday Masses covering Spanish, English, and bilingual communities, weekly Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesdays, and Saturday confessions before the Vigil Mass. Beyond its 7602 Old Military Road campus, the parish is known across the Diocese of Brownsville for its Capilla Móvil ministry, which brings Mass and the Gospel out to nearby colonia communities that cannot easily travel to a church — a real, hands-on welcome to anyone searching for a Catholic community in the Rio Grande Valley.
Mass times at San Pedro
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Adoration times
- Wednesday: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
- Saturday: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
About San Pedro Catholic Church
San Pedro Catholic Church is a bilingual Roman Catholic quasi-parish of the Diocese of Brownsville serving the north Brownsville and Olmito area of Cameron County in the Rio Grande Valley. The parish is named for Saint Peter, the chief of the Apostles, and the parish website carries the scriptural motto drawn from Matthew 16:18: "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Its own working motto is "We Come to World for Serving & Sharing," reflecting the missionary spirit that has defined the community since its founding.
- Parish name: San Pedro Catholic Church
- Canonical status: Quasi-Parish (Mission), Diocese of Brownsville
- Established: 2017
- Motto: "We Come to World for Serving & Sharing"
History and Founding
San Pedro Quasi-Parish was established in 2017 as part of a wave of new mission communities created by the Diocese of Brownsville to reach Catholics in the rapidly growing rural and colonia areas of Cameron County. It shares its founding year with Our Heavenly Father Parish in Olmito and St. Anne Quasi-Parish in Peñitas. In February 2020 the parish gained Diocesan and wider attention for its Capilla Móvil — a mobile chapel that then-pastor Father Joel Flores and a parishioner welded together from a discarded trailer so they could celebrate Mass outdoors in a north Brownsville colonia. Bishop Daniel E. Flores joined the celebration on February 15, 2020, and later wrote in The Valley Catholic that San Pedro's creativity is the model Pope Francis calls for: "a Church that goes out to the people."
- Founded: 2017, Diocese of Brownsville
- 2020: Capilla Móvil launched by Father Joel Flores and a parishioner
- Feb 15, 2020: Bishop Daniel E. Flores celebrated outdoor Mass from the Capilla Móvil
- Featured in The Valley Catholic, March 2020
Pastor, Clergy and Staff
San Pedro is currently served by Rev. Manoj Kumar Nayak, SS.CC, a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, who began as pastor effective February 26, 2024, according to the Diocese of Brownsville parish directory. He is assisted by Rev. Gerardo Sanchez (effective March 1, 2024). Both names, along with parish contact information, are listed on the Diocese of Brownsville's official Parish Finder under San Pedro Quasi-Parish (2017).
- Current Pastor: Rev. Manoj Kumar Nayak, SS.CC (eff. 02/26/2024)
- Associate: Rev. Gerardo Sanchez (eff. 03/01/2024)
- Earlier pastor featured in 2020 Valley Catholic article: Father Joel Flores
Capilla Móvil: Parish on Mission
San Pedro's most distinctive ministry is its Capilla Móvil — a mobile chapel built by then-pastor Father Joel Flores and a parishioner from a salvaged trailer. The Capilla Móvil is taken out to surrounding colonia communities between north Brownsville and Olmito — places where residents have difficulty reaching a church — so that Mass, the Word of God, and basic sacramental ministry can be brought directly to them. Bishop Daniel E. Flores celebrated an outdoor Mass from the trailer on February 15, 2020, before a community of several hundred gathered on a dirt field, and used the occasion to call San Pedro a model of Pope Francis's missionary Church: "If people cannot come close to the altar, it is necessary for the altar to go and look and get close to the people." The parish website still highlights this story as central to its identity, and the diocesan timeline records that the parish's creative outreach was praised as a model for the wider Church.
- Mobile chapel built from a refurbished trailer
- Outdoor Masses celebrated in colonias north of Brownsville
- Praised by Bishop Daniel E. Flores in The Valley Catholic (March 2020)
Contact and Location
San Pedro Catholic Church is located on Old Military Road in north Brownsville, with parish offices open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The mailing address used by the Diocese of Brownsville is a P.O. Box in Olmito, Texas. Contact details — phone, fax, and email — are listed both on the parish website and in the official diocesan parish directory.
- Address: 7602 Old Military Rd, Brownsville, TX 78520
- Mailing: P.O. Box 1658, Olmito, TX 78575
- Phone: (956) 542-2596
- Fax: (956) 546-8080
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Tue–Fri 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Esteban Hernandezeffective 01/22/2016
Listed in Diocese of Brownsville parish finder as serving San Pedro.
- Rev. Caleb de la Rosaeffective 09/23/2024
Also listed in diocesan records in connection with San Pedro; date appears to relate to associate/vicar assignment.
- Rev. Manoj Kumar Nayak, SS.CCeffective 02/26/2024 to present
Current pastor; member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (SS.CC).
- Rev. Gerardo Sanchezeffective 03/01/2024 to present
Associate priest.
- Father Joel Flores
Earlier pastor mentioned in 2020 Valley Catholic article; he and a parishioner built the parish's Capilla Móvil (mobile chapel).