Our Pastor
Fr Dante Gabriel Jiménez Muñoz Ledo
Fr Dante has been our pastor since April, 2015. He was ordained in 1993 and has served various churches in the diocese of Celaya and has taught in the diocesan seminary. Fr Dante is bilingual and, at San Juan de Dios, he presides over a large Mexican congregation as well as our small English-speaking community.
Fr Dante is the author of several theological and pedagogical books as well as short stories and novels.
Our "gringo" community is close-knit yet always welcoming to visitors and residents new to San Miguel. We are happy to have our permanent home as a small part of the larger Mexican congregation at San Juan de Dios.
History of Our English-Speaking Catholic Community in San Miguel
(with thanks to Mary Ambrose)
When we arrived in SMA in ‘95 there were very few people who attended the English Mass...8, 6, and 20 was huge. We grew a little...20 to 30 most Masses.
Fr Lance Oser came in November, 2011. His first Masses were at Las Monjas, taking Fr Rey's place. When Fr Rey wanted to return, Fr Lance and some of the congregation moved to Santa Ana Church on Insurgentes, next to the Biblioteca.
After a couple of years there, we moved to San Rafael (Santa Escuela), the chapel next to the Parroquia. Though this was a very visible location, the disadvantages were steep, irregular stairs and bells ringing every fifteen minutes.
We were happy to make our next move, in early 2015, to Templo San Juan de Dios where we are now. Fr Dante became our pastor shortly after we moved there.