As the new Pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, I would like to welcome you and introduce myself. I speak Spanish fluently and am grateful that my parents, who are both from Mexico made sure that I grew up fluent in both English and Spanish. Growing up, my parents planted the seeds of faith in the priesthood while I was in high school. 4 years into the Seminary, I was assigned to serve St. Thomas as a seminarian. This is when I met Father Dennis O’Neil whose love for his priesthood and his dedication to the people of God was a great blessing and example for me as I approached my ordination. I have now been a priest for 20 years and throughout these years I have been entrusted by the Archbishop to Pastor large churches such as St. Matthias in Huntington Park for 8 years and Sacred Heart of Jesus in Lincoln Heights for 4 years. Serving in communities among immigrants and the poor has been a great blessing to my priesthood.

I feel blessed to have been selected by Archbishop José Gómez to serve as pastor for Saint Thomas the Apostle Church. I gladly accept this appointment as a gift and a mission from the Holy Spirit and look forward to meeting everyone who is part of our parish and school family.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Mario Torres
Pastor