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Guadalupe Missioners

Serving the Spiritual Needs of Los Angeles Since 1974

Masses, sacraments, and ministries for a diverse Catholic Community.

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Who We Are

In 1974, we were invited to collaborate with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, in California, USA, where we have attended to the spiritual needs of parishes distinguished by the ethnic diversity of their congregations, composed of Anglo-Americans, Koreans, and Latinos, among others.

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Message from the Director of the Mission in the United States

Welcome Message from the Director of the Mission in the United States (1)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

As we continue our missionary journey, I invite you to reflect together on the gift and dignity of all human life.

During this month of July, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, reminds us that “life is an inestimable gift that unfolds within a committed relationship based on mutual self-giving and service.” He also teaches us that a society can only truly progress when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and works actively to promote it.

These words hold a very special meaning for us, the Guadalupe Missioners.

Each day, in our parish communities and in the various apostolates we carry out in Southern California, we encounter people who are searching for hope, comfort, and the love of Christ. We accompany families struggling to move forward, young people seeking to discover God’s plan for their lives, elderly persons longing for closeness, migrants seeking a welcoming home, and men and women carrying burdens that are often invisible. Each one of them is a beloved child of God, created in his image and likeness, with an infinite dignity that must be respected and protected from conception to natural death.

Our missionary vocation calls us not only to proclaim the Gospel with our words, but also to defend the dignity of every person through our actions. We are called to build communities where compassion overcomes indifference, dialogue replaces division, and service reflects the merciful love of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Father also reminds us that today we witness great challenges to the fundamental rights that protect human dignity — among them freedom of conscience, religious freedom, freedom of expression, and even the right to life. As disciples of Christ, we are called to respond not with fear or confrontation, but with firm faith, authentic charity, and the joyful witness of the Gospel.

In a special way, Pope Leo XIV encourages young people to become promoters of the culture of life, by actively participating in the building of a more just society through respectful dialogue, commitment to the common good, and generous service to others. The future of the Church depends on disciples who know how to defend the truth while never ceasing to love and respect every person.

As Guadalupe Missioners, we renew our commitment to bring Christ to all the places where he sends us. Whether through our parishes, the formation of future missionaries, our evangelizing work, or service to those most in need, we continue to respond with joy to the Lord’s call to proclaim the Gospel to the ends where the Church needs us most.

I am deeply grateful for your prayers, your closeness, and your generous support of our mission. Thanks to you, we can continue to sow hope, proclaim the love of Christ, and always promote respect for the dignity and life of every human person.

May Saint Mary of Guadalupe, Mother of Life and Patroness of the Americas, intercede for you and your families. May she always lead us to her Son, Jesus Christ, so that, illumined by his love, we may be faithful witnesses of the Gospel of life.

With gratitude and my constant prayer,

Fr. Salvador Rojas Vega, MG
Mission Director in the United States
Guadalupe Missioners

Ministries & Services

guadalupe missioners photo gallery

Photo Gallery

Browse moments from our parishes, missions, and community events. See how faith is lived, celebrated, and shared through the work of the Guadalupe Missioners.

Missions Around The World

Discover where we serve across the globe and how our missionaries bring the Gospel, pastoral care, and formation to communities most in need.

ALMAS August-2026

ALMAS Newsletter Highlights

Read featured updates, reflections, and mission news from ALMAS. Stay connected with our spiritual work, outreach efforts, and upcoming initiatives.

Events

Annual “Dia Del Padrino” Event – El Monte

August 16, 2026
3:00 PM
- 6:30 PM

3:00pm Mass
4:30pm Reception

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (La Lupita)
11359 Coffield Ave.
El Monte, CA 91731

Annual “Dia Del Padrino” Event – Huntington Park

September 20, 2026
1:30 PM
- 5:00 PM

1:30pm Mass
3:00pm Reception

Sta. Martha Catholic Church
6012 Seville Ave.
Huntington Park, CA 90255

Annual “Dia Del Padrino” Event – Los Angeles

October 18, 2026
12:00 PM
- 3:30 PM

12:00pm Mass
1:30pm Reception

Sta. Maria Magdalena Catholic Church
1241 S. Corning St.
Los Angeles, CA 90035

Our Lady of Guadalupe Procession at East Los Angeles College

December 6, 2026
8:00 AM
- 3:00 PM

Visit our Guadalupe Missioners booth!

Join Our Network of Padrinos/Madrinas (Sponsors)

"We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;" (1 Thessalonians 1:2)

A beautiful act of faith, love, and generosity

As a Padrino or Madrina, you walk alongside our missionaries in spirit, helping bring the Gospel to those who long for Christ in places where hope is most needed. Through your prayers and support, you become part of a living mission that reaches hearts around the world.

We are deeply grateful for your generous support, which sustains the formation of our missionaries and strengthens our priests in their work of proclaiming the Gospel.

Half scholarship: $600
Give whatever amount you feel called to. Every gift sustains the mission.
Full scholarship: $1200
Receive a personal token of appreciation as a sign of our gratitude and spiritual unity.

Thank you for opening your heart to this mission. May our Lord bless you abundantly, and may Our Lady of Guadalupe lovingly protect you and your family always.

VO - English

Churches Staffed by the Guadalupe Missioners Priests

Sta. Martha Catholic Parish

6012 Seville Ave
Huntington Park, CA 90255

Go to website
Get Directions

(323) 585-0386

Pastor – Fr. Alejandro Mendez, MG
Associate Pastor – Fr. Jerry A. Gutierrez
Office Administrator – Nelly Laura Calderon

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church

11359 Coffield Ave
El Monte, CA 91731

Go to website
Get Directions

(626) 448-1795

Pastor – Fr. Carlos May Correa, MG
Associate Pastor – Fr. Jorge Cruz, MG
Associate Pastor – Fr. Ruben Jesus Reyes Hernandez
Office Administrator – Elena Hernandez

Our Lady of Solitude Parish

4561 E Cesar E. Chavez Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90022

Go to website
Get Directions

(323) 269-7248

Administrator – Fr. Victor Zavala, MG
Associate Pastor – Fr. Gunther Alejandro Weigend Hernandez, MG
Associate Administrator – Rev. Deacon Sergio Perez
Office Manager – Fabiola Garcia

Contact Us

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Photo Gallery

Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.1
Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.1
Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.2
Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.2
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Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.4
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Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.10
Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.9
Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.9
Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.8
Fr. Salvador St. Claire Church Santa Clara, CA. Retreat.8
Dia Del Padrino 2025
Dia Del Padrino 2025
Our Virgin of Guadalupe Procession to East L.A. College - 2024
Our Virgin of Guadalupe Procession to East L.A. College - 2024
Dial Del Padrino - 2024 -1
Dial Del Padrino - 2024 -1
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Dial Del Padrino - 2024 -4
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Dia Del Padrino_Fr. Salvador & La Virgen de Guadalupe
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2025 Dia Del Padrino Guests
2025 Dia Del Padrino Guests
2025 Dia Del Padrino Fr. Salvador and Fr. Victor Mass
2025 Dia Del Padrino Fr. Salvador and Fr. Victor Mass
2025 Dia Del Padrino Fr. Salvador and Fr. Victor
2025 Dia Del Padrino Fr. Salvador and Fr. Victor
2025 Dia Del Padrino Equipo Guadalupe Missioners
2025 Dia Del Padrino Equipo Guadalupe Missioners
Guadalupe Missioners L.A.
Guadalupe Missioners L.A.
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Missions Around The World

EASTERN COUNTRIES

JAPAN: Japan is the country where we carried out our first missionary service (1956); it gave us the challenge of becoming one with our Japanese brothers and sisters, adapting to their culture and traditions, learning the language, in order to communicate the Gospel of the Lord. Today, Japan is an economically developed, cultured, and educated country, but the vast majority of its inhabitants still do not know the “true God, for whom we live.”

SOUTH KOREA: Korea was our second mission (1962). We arrived just after the war that devastated that country had ended. From the beginning, the Korean people showed openness to receiving the word of God and gratitude for receiving it; this situation helped the people to be spiritually ready to encounter God. Today, thank God, Korea is experiencing a good number of priestly and religious vocations.

HONG KONG: (1975) Since arriving in this beautiful land, our dream has been to evangelize mainland China, the most populous country in the world, of which Hong Kong is a part. We rejoice in these 50 years and more of missionary work in this “fragrant harbor.”

INDONESIA: On October 7, 2023, the Guadalupe Missioners, responding to the call to be a Church that reaches out, ventured into the Muslim world for the first time, founding the Mission of Indonesia, where we bring our faith and witness hand in hand with Saint Mary of Guadalupe.

AFRICAN COUNTRIES

KENYA: In 1965, the first Guadalupe Missionaries arrived in this African country. Currently, our priests are present in this nation, accompanied by lay missionaries who, in addition to sharing their faith, also share their profession in favor of Kenyan communities.

ANGOLA: We began this mission in January 1981, in the midst of a war that bled the country dry: insecurity, hunger, suffering of the people and the Church, with many priests, religious, and catechists murdered, but with a great thirst for God. Today the war is over. The seed has borne fruit: the Guadalupe Missioners trained more than 100 priests in the seminary, some of whom are now bishops. Let us pray to the Lord for all of them. May they in turn be The Father’s Missioners.

MOZAMBIQUE: (2000). Like Angola, Mozambique suffered the pain of war. Today, it has great needs in terms of economics, health, education, and spiritual care. This has been an enormous challenge. Since our inception, the Guadalupe Missioners have worked with joy and hope so that socio-political stability will soon be achieved and a Church willing to present the Face of Christ to all its children will increasingly reemerge.

TUNISIA: On December 12, 2023, Guadalupe Missioners took on the challenge of bringing and sharing the Gospel of Life in the Muslim world, founding the Mission of Tunisia, always guided by our star of evangelization, Saint Mary of Guadalupe.

AMERICA

PERU: Our first mission in Latin America, born out of an urgent request from its bishops in the face of a serious shortage of priests. We continue to collaborate with this sister Church, birthplace of Saint Martin de Porres and Saint Rose of Lima.

BRAZIL: Country of Our Lady of Aparecida. A country suffering from stark economic and social differences, needing the presence of Christ the Redeemer even in the most remote areas of the Amazon rainforest. There we are, the Guadalupe Missioners, serving our Brazilian brothers and sisters and proclaiming Jesus the Savior.

GUATEMALA: Our Mission in Guatemala has been a special face of the Guadalupe Missioners in America. We are present only through the Lay Missionary Associates. We support the local Church, particularly in rural areas.

CUBA: (1995) Known as “the Pearl of the Caribbean.” We accompany, proclaim, and serve with dedication our Cuban brothers and sisters, who for many years have been living with great faith and in need of priestly care, amid difficult socio-political circumstances. Let us pray to Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre for our Cuban brothers and sisters and for our Guadalupe Missioners on that beautiful island.

UNITED STATES: In this country, our missionary service consists of helping people to know and live their faith in Christ, particularly our Hispanic brothers and sisters. United States of America: “Land of opportunity,” but very poor spiritually.

THE VATICAN: Pope Pius XII suggested to Bishop Alonso Escalante, the first Superior General, that our Missionary Institute be given the name Guadalupe Missioners, in honor of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, Patroness of Mexico and all of America.

MEXICO: In 1949, as a result of a missionary congress in Mexico, the bishops of that country decided to found a missionary institute to proclaim the Gospel to those who do not know it. The official name of our institute is: Institute of Saint Mary of Guadalupe for Foreign Missions. The generosity of you, our sponsors, is the foundation for the formation of our seminarians and for the service of our priests in the missions.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

We entrust ourselves to Her and ask Her to protect our Peoples from violence and the destruction of our values.

May she protect all of you, our Sponsors and their families, with her mantle; strengthen our faith, and help us realize that she is always with us, for she said:

“Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not in my womb? Why are you afraid?”

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ALMAS Newsletter Highlights

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Message from the Pope: Evangelizing the City

Excerpt from the Discourse of Pope Leo XIV to the members of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), December 29, 2025.

Our cities are not anonymous places, but faces and stories that must be safeguarded like precious treasures.

Social cohesion and civic harmony require, first of all, listening to the smallest and the poor: without this commitment, “democracy atrophies, becomes mere nominalism, a formality, loses its representativeness, and grows disembodied, because it leaves the people out of their daily struggle for dignity, out of the shaping of their own destiny.”

Don Primo Mazzolari, a priest attentive to the life of his people, wrote that “the country does not only need sewers, houses, roads, aqueducts, and sidewalks. The country also needs a way of feeling, of living, a way of seeing itself, a way of showing fraternity” (Discourses, Bologna 2006, 470). Administrative work thus finds its full realization, because it makes people’s talents grow, giving cities cultural and spiritual depth.

Have, then, the courage to offer people hope, working together to build the best future for your lands, in the spirit of an integral human development.

 

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Evangelizing the City: Creativity and Community in LA, California

Fr. Jorge Cruz Avila, MG

As part of his intention for August, Pope Leo XIV proposes a profoundly timely challenge: to pray for the great cities and for evangelization within them.

This invitation takes on special meaning in a city like Los Angeles, California, USA, where cultural diversity and a fast pace of life coexist with deep realities of loneliness and fragmentation, as Pope Francis noted in Evangelii Gaudium (cf. I, 1-2): “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.”

One of the greatest challenges in this city is loneliness. The people we serve as Guadalupe Missioners (MG) are, for the most part, migrants — nearly 90% of whom live far from their families. Faced with this reality, the mission takes on a communal face. As the Lord reminds us: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). Creating spaces for encounter, prayer, and fraternity becomes a form of proclamation.

These realities challenge us to live out our faith and consecration by constantly renewing our personal encounter with Christ. In this context, our life and ministry become a sign of hope. Our presence responds to a call to embody the Gospel in the midst of a complex urban reality. We seek to make God’s merciful face visible in our parishes: Our Lady of Guadalupe, in El Monte, California; Our Lady of Solitude, in East Los Angeles; and St. Martha, in Huntington Park, California, as well as the Chinese community in some of the parishes we support. All within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Great cities like this one offer many opportunities for evangelization, but also unique challenges: anonymity, constant mobility, cultural and sociopolitical differences that generate fear, and discrimination and violence toward vulnerable groups, especially within our Latino communities. In response, the MG are answering with a creative pastoral approach: accompanying our communities by promoting personal encounters, formation, celebrations, and processes of faith across diverse cultures and contexts.

The Gospel illuminates this mission: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news” (Mk 16:15). Today, that “world” calls us to go out and meet people where they are, recognizing their struggles, their hopes, and their dignity, particularly in these difficult times in the United States.

The creativity of the MG is also seen in everyday witness. A gesture of welcome, a word or greeting in another’s own language, visiting the sick and those in need, celebrating and sharing in the feasts of their tradition and culture — in short, actions that break through anonymity and build communion. “You are the light of the world,” as Jesus tells us (Mt 5:14). In a city this large, the light of the Gospel becomes visible through acts of closeness, through generously giving of our time.

Finally, the Pope’s call invites us to recognize that urban evangelization is a shared vocation. The MG, together with local communities, are called to build a living, close, and missionary Church at the heart of the Great City — transforming it into a space where God continues to make all things new.

 

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Evangelizing the City: Creativity, Encounter, and Hope

Fr. Salvador Rojas Vega, MG

The modern city, with its lights, dynamism, and constant motion, is a place where loneliness can dwell in the midst of the crowd. Today’s great metropolises, where millions of people live side by side, are often places where they remain emotionally distant from one another.

In this context, Southern California, USA, is an emblematic setting for this global urban reality. In the area of Los Angeles County, more than 88% of the population lives in densely populated zones. Nearly 48% of its residents are of Latino origin, making this community a fundamental axis of cultural identity. 15% of the population is of Asian origin, including Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Indian communities, among others. In addition, more than 35% of households speak a language other than English, pointing to the need for linguistic and pastoral bridges.

This plurality makes Los Angeles a true human laboratory where migratory histories, religious traditions, and life experiences converge. Completing this greater metropolitan area are Orange County, where urbanization reaches 95%, and San Bernardino County, which exceeds 80%. Together, these three counties form one of the most complex and diverse urban spaces in the USA, shaping a pastoral reality all its own. In many ways, Los Angeles is a living tapestry of traditions, religions, and worldviews. This richness also presents pastoral challenges.

The migratory reality is significant: most residents are immigrants or their children, which brings experiences of uprootedness, cultural adaptation, generational tensions, and social and economic vulnerability. This calls for a pastoral approach deeply attuned to urban realities.

Within this fabric, the Chinese community present in areas such as Chinatown, Monterey Park, the San Gabriel Valley, and Orange County, brings invaluable cultural, economic, and spiritual richness to the region. It also faces challenges that require specific attention, such as language barriers that hinder access to social and religious services; differences in how the Christian faith is lived; generational isolation between older adults and youth born or raised in the USA; processes of social, economic, and educational integration; and a lack of access to faith communities that reflect their cultural identity.

For this reason, the task of the Guadalupe Missioners (MG) is not limited to administering the Sacraments and services, but extends to building community, as Pope Leo XIV reminds us, with creativity, closeness, and a renewed pastoral imagination. We are called to be bridge-builders between cultures, facilitators of human encounter, promoters of inclusive spaces for prayer, companions through migratory processes, and witnesses of hope amid this urban fragmentation. Our work helps transform the experience of many people, restoring to them a sense of belonging and community.

Faithful to our charism, we must be a living presence of the Gospel in the midst of this urban reality, because, among multicultural neighborhoods, God continues to walk with His people.

Godparents and Sponsors, we invite you to continue supporting the Missions. You may now make your donations in US dollars through the website: guadalupemissionersla.org

 

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70th Anniversary of the Mission of Japan

Fr. Antonio del Carmen Camacho Muñoz, MG

Dear Godparents and Sponsors, dear family members, esteemed brother priests, seminarians, and laity of the Guadalupe Missioners (MG).

Receive a warm greeting from the Mission of Japan, where 70 years ago the very purpose for which our Institute was founded became a reality: the evangelization of those who do not believe in Christ (cf. C. 4). And so the first three missionaries arrived at this founding Mission: Frs. Alejandro Ríos, MG; Juvenal Garnica, MG; and Joaquín Sarmina, MG.

Since then, 34 priests have served in the Mission, and today eight of us are in Japan, with one more father studying in Rome.

Throughout all this time, evangelization — beginning in the Diocese of Sendai, in the Aizu Wakamatsu region, where the first three priests arrived, and later in the Dioceses of Kyoto and Tokyo — has been carried out thanks to the prayer, cooperation, and self-giving of your children, sharing the joy of the Gospel.

Through all this time, we can only give thanks to God, as Fr. Alejandro Ríos, MG, wrote in the following letter of gratitude, sent from the ship the day before arriving in Japan. In it he wrote: “God willing, tomorrow evening we will arrive at the Japanese port of Yokohama. We already consider ourselves to be on mission soil, and so we will send this page in our first letter to Mexico, to give thanks for the countless favors received on that blessed ground.

May the first paragraph of thanksgiving be for God, for the great faith of our homeland, for the good people who endure in spite of so many hardships, for granting us a part in the missionary enterprise of Holy Church.” The letter goes on to give “thanks to those who made our missionary vocation possible, opening for us a path we could never have found on our own: the Missionary Union of the Clergy, the diocesan directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies, the National Missionary Congresses, and the respective diocesan seminaries.

And also, first and foremost, many thanks to our families for their great Christian generosity. The sacrifice they make is perhaps greater than that of the missionaries themselves. God is very great, and for Him something as dear as one’s home is sacrificed. Though it is to be hoped that the eternal reward will be disproportionate to what has been done for God.”

Once again, we want to thank each one of you for your prayers, support, and generosity. We recall one memorable episode: “Barely fifteen minutes had passed since the announcement of the first Guadalupe Missioners bound for a mission in Japan, when a woman of modest means handed a priest a ten-peso bill in the sacristy of the Basilica of Guadalupe, ‘to help the little Fathers.’” To which the missionary replied: “Thank you very much, Ma’am. You have a very generous hand, for many others followed your donation; yours will always remain the first.” And to this day, thanks to your donations, we continue the Mission the Lord has entrusted to us.

Today, the Church that journeys in Japan faces great challenges: interculturality, migrants, marginalized people, and churches with an increasingly elderly membership. Above all, there is a need to build communities of prayer, self-giving, and a living, faithful witness of what it means to be Christian in Japan. Evangelizing from the heart, in the style of Jesus, will remain an ongoing challenge.

Facing these challenges, the need for priestly and missionary vocations remains no less important, and ever more urgent. Vocations in Japan have dwindled to a minimum. There are dioceses that have not had a single vocation in more than 10 years. Let us not stop asking the Lord of the harvest to send missionaries to this nation.

The story continues; we will leave room for other articles in this issue of Almas. Later on, there will be an opportunity to write at greater length about the many eloquent details tied to so many missionary experiences over these first 70 years of our missionary journey.

And here we close with a deep bow toward Mexico, as the Japanese are said to do as a sign of gratitude. May God bless you.

Prayer for the 70th Anniversary of Our Presence in Japan

God, Father of goodness, we thank you for these 70 years of missionary presence in Japan of your children, the Guadalupe Missioners. Just as Jesus Christ chose and sent forth his apostles, he continues to send us out to evangelize as well.

We ask you for all the Fathers who have served in this mission, and for the families, friends, and benefactors who make this presence possible, that you may reward them with eternal Glory.

We place the Japanese people in your hands, that the Gospel may continue to grow and bless this country, and that we may continue walking together toward an encounter with your Son, Jesus Christ.

Holy Mary of Guadalupe, star of evangelization, we continue to entrust ourselves to your maternal and loving presence, and we ask our Lord Jesus Christ to send us the Holy Spirit to continue this missionary mandate for the good of the Church, the Mission, and the Institute.

Amen.

 

Prayer for the XII General Chapter of the Guadalupe Missioners

Loving God our Father,
in the preparation and celebration
of the Twelfth General Chapter
of the Guadalupe Missioners,
we implore your Spirit of
wisdom and understanding
to discern the signs of the times
in a world in need of You.

May we, renewed in hope
in our missionary being and work,
be authentic witnesses
of peace and love, following the example of
Saint Mary of Guadalupe,
Mother of the true God
for whom we live.

We ask this through your Son,
Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
Amen.