PARISH HISTORY
Our Lady of Fatima Parish was established in 1973 when Fr. Clement Kubish and then Brother Denis Cicone, CMRI, would travel to South San Diego to offer Mass about three times a year. These first Masses were offered in rented halls or conference rooms for a small group of Traditional Catholics. These occasional Masses were usually preceded by meetings to discuss the changes in the Catholic Church since Vatican Council II.
About a year later, a Chula Vista parishioner offered the upstairs apartment of her home as a chapel, where the Blessed Sacrament was eventually reserved. Mass was offered about five times a year in this temporary chapel location.
In 1978, the chapel was relocated to its present location in National City, the back room of a devoted Parishioners home. The room was transformed into a chapel which included a spare room used as the Priests Sacristy and a customized altar. The altar was donated by a Catholic who occasionally visited from Washington State. A log book is maintained in the back of the Chapel to record the minimum one hour of daily adoration necessary to maintain the Blessed Sacrament, as established by Fr. Denis Cicone, CMRI.
Although it was never incorporated as such, both the original Chula Vista Chapel and the present National City Chapel came to be known as Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.
From the early 1980's to the early 1990's, Mass was offered on a frequency that ranged from once every two months to as often as twice a month, as determined by the availability of priests. During these years when Mass could not be offered every week, the faithful would gather on Sunday morning at the Chapel and say their Mass Prayers and/or listen to a recording of an earlier Mass offered at the Chapel. Parishioners would schedule each themselves for for different hours each Sunday, to spend time with Our Lord in prayer and meditation.
After the ordination of another CMRI Priest in early 1992 and his ultimate assignment to a Parish in nearby Phoenix, Arizona, he agreed to fly in from Phoenix to offer a Mass each Sunday in the late afternoon for the faithful in San Diego. To accommodate the growing number of parishioners each Sunday, space for the Holy Mass was rented at local hotels.
In 1999, a priest that was recently ordained in Omaha, Nebraska and stationed in Santa Clarita, CA was then instructed by His Excellency Bishop Mark Pivarunas, CMRI to travel to the San Diego Parish every weekend to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
A name change was necessary as there was already an incorporated Vatican II Parish in the city of Chula Vista by the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and future planned advertising in the yellow pages and local papers would prove confusing. In early 2000, the parish was formally incorporated under the new title of Our Lady of Fatima.
Father Gabriel Lavery, CMRI, who teaches at Mount Saint Michael's Academy in Spokane, WA officially became our new Pastor in January 2010. In May, the parish made a move to the historic NTC North Chapel at Liberty Station where Mass is offered every Sunday, providing a church atmosphere for parishioners.
Later in 2010, Fr. James McGilloway, CMRI, became the new resident priest for a few years prior to retiring. The Parish was then led by Fr. Gerard McKee, CMRI, who has a long history as a visiting priest to the Parish. Fr. McKee continues to this day as Pastor for the San Diego congregation and also offers Mass for the faithful Covina, CA on Sundays and Holy Days.
