It was not long before the priests became known to Dr. Thomas E. Purcell, a member of Sacred Heart parish and Grand Knight of Council 427, Knights of Columbus.  Purcell set out to look for the priests.  He and Professor John Deister, who taught Spanish at the Junior College and who came along as interpreter, found them living in a vacant house near the railroad tracks.  With Purcell and Deisters’s help the two priests called on Bishop Thomas Lillis who quickly extended to them the faculties of the Diocese.  Arrangements were made with Fr. John Hogan pastor at

Sacred Heart Church for use of the church; about 20 families soon gathered for Sunday Mass.

     With Purcell’s assistance the Catholic Club and the Mexican community were introduced and formed the beginning of a long and fruitful mutual relationship.  With the Club’s help a residence was leased at 2341 Holly Street(Purcell says it was on Jefferson Street).  The downstairs was fixed up as a chapel and the priests were able to live upstairs.  During the first year the Catholic club paid the rent on the building, and supplied money for the priests’ living expenses. (There are different versions of the sequence of events here and who was involved).

   On November 15, 1914 a chapel in the home was blessed.  Fr. Edmund Griffin at St. John the Baptist parish donated an altar and the Tabernacle Society donated a chalice and vestments.

   Observers were astonished that the Mexican custom upon entering the church was to drop to the knees and continue on the knees until reaching the place in church they planned to occupy.  The Mexicans did not use pews or chairs.)  They were again astonished to witness that those receiving Communion also approached that altar rail on their knees.  The Mexicans explained the customs as indicating a great humility before the presence of God.  The ceiling in the chapel was so low that Bishop Lillis who was a tall man, could not wear his mitre for the blessing.  Within five months over 200 people were coming to Mass and soon this building proved to be to small to accommodate the congregation, for once the location of the place of worship was fixed, Spanish speaking began to relocate from all over the city to the Westside.

   The congregation stayed at this location for about 18 months.  During this time Father Cyril moved on to Osawatomie to work with immigrants there.  Later he would go to Arkansas to head a Carmelite school.  The next location for the gathering of the congregation was a store room at 1120 W. 24th Street, rented in 1915 with the help of Sacred Heart parishioners.  Apparently Father Munoz moved here.  It is said that his room cost $10 per month to rent.  Soon attendance had reached 500 people on Sunday.  About one third of those attending had to stand outside.

   Fr. Munoz was the only Spanish speaking priest for the entire area.  Sometimes sick calls would take him 60 miles out of the city.  He would baptize over 300 a year and witness 50-60 marriages.  The parish records show that he ministered as far west as Salina and Concordia, KS.

   In October 1958, when the Diocese was looking for temporary housing for the Sisters teaching at Guadalupe school, Mr. Arrendendo, a real estate broker, showed a duplex at 2317 Monitor.  He said that this was the property in which Father Munoz lived and the property had been inherited by his family when he died in 1941. (Letter O’Flaherty to Koenig, 15 October 1958.)

   Intense pressures were brought to bear on the immigrants to join other religions.  Several Protestant missions were established in the neighborhood.

   In the meantime the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Emanuel church property at 23rd Street and Madison came on the market.  At first the owners wanted $65,000, which was actually a reasonable sum given the fact that the stone structure with slate roof had cost $100,000 to build.  However, after several years of negotiations the church and pastors house were purchased for $18,000.  Everyone was stunned that the Lutherans who had moved to Westport, were willing to let the church to so cheaply.

   The warranty deed was signed on September 11, 1919, and states that the sum of money agreed upon was $18,000.  Victor Spong was the President of the church and Olof Mattson, Oscar Magnuson, Arthur Johnson, Arthur Ryden, Gus Johnson and August Sjoholm were the trustees of the church.

   Purcell writes:

   “The Rev.Dr.Spong was still after me but we could do nothing.  One day he phones to say he was bringing his trustees to my office to discuss the buying of the church.  I was embarrassed as I had no means of getting any funds for the purpose and made up my mind to tell him, finally, there was no use, we just could not buy it. 

   “The committee and Dr. Spong came, telling me they had decided to bring the price down to forty-five thousand dollars (a bargain at that price) but again I told them it was out of the question.

   “They left in a huff but in about a half an hour Dr. Spong returned to say he had notified the trustees of his intent to leave Kansas City unless this property were sold and another church built out in south Kansas City where the Swedish people had moved.

   “The committee came to offer to take twenty-five thousand dollars.  I explained that I could do nothing.  Finally they asked me to make an offer.  To get rid of them I offered ten thousand dollars.  They jumped up and walker out of the office.  Dr. Spong with them.  In half an hour they were back, saying they knew I would do better than make that ridiculous offer.  They haggled and I finally compromised on eighteen thousand five hundred dollars.  We drew up a contract.  I paid one hundred dollars to bind the bargain.

   “That evening I went over to tell the Bishop, saying I had risked on hundred dollars of my money, and that if he did not thing it was a bargain I had lost  hundred dollars.”(Memoirs.)

   Through Purcell’s efforts the Catholic Church Extension Society contributed $500 toward the purchase price of the church.  This is most likely the first project the Extension Society funded in the diocese.  Before Sacred Heart parish church was built Bishop Hogan had investigated the purchase of the church for that congregation but the cost was prohibitive.

   The only physical change to the building was the removal of a picture of Martin Luther from one of the stained glass windows and the addition of an altar.  The church could hold about 400 although a capacity up to 900 is cited.  There was a basement in the church which had been fixed up as parish hall with stage and kitchen.  Plans were to move the school immediately to the basement and then to the parish house as soon as the occupant had vacated the premises.

   On October 5, 1919, the church was formally opened for Catholic worship.  At the service each person present brought a candle as was the Mexican custom.  It is said that some were as large as three to five feet in length.  Fathers Madrigal ( of St. Joseph hospital) and Roscombo ( of Topeka) assisted Fr. Munoz at the dedication.

   The Redemptorist Fathers donated the main altar.  The K of C purchased the carpet for the church.  The German-speaking people at Sts. Peter and Paul and Father Zechenter were generous friends and benefactors of the new parish and remained so through the years.  However, it was especially the people of the parish who pledged and gave the money to pay the debt on the church, along with help from their friends from time to time.  The people of the parish were very poor.  Even a small contribution required tremendous sacrifice. 

   William Lona recounted that the problems with acquiring the property were not finished.  At the time of purchase the city was planning to cut 23rd Street through making it a trafficway to connect with Kansas City, KS., by the way of a new viaduct.  The church had a 105’ frontage which would cost the congregation dearly in assessments.

   However, there was a Judge Miles Bulger who had grown up on the West Side and knew the property of the area.  His mother lived less than a block from the church.  When the judge was a member of the City Council he had an ordinance passed which exempted the people living from Summit to Drips Streets from having to pay taxes on the widening and paving of streets, and the installation of sidewalks, water lines and sewers.  The church was saved yet again.

   The first Fiesta was held in August 1926.  El Tampico Marching Band was a featured event.  At the Fiesta of 1983, held Crown Center, 5000 tamales, 5000 burritos, 9600 enchiladas, 8000 tostadas and 10,000 tacos were served to 20,000 people.  When asked why people would work so hard from early morning to sundown Marie G. Arroyo, supervisor of the festival food service, said: “We do it out of love.  We’re Mexicans.  We do it for our Lady of Guadalupe.”

   The Fiesta has been held at various sites around the city, from 23rd and Jarboe to Crown Center to the Downtown Airport.  However, the focus has always been the same:  to provide for the financial needs of the parish or the school.  It might be noted as well that the entertainments are typically presented by the people themselves who have made a determined effort to preserve the dances and music from the states and cities their ancestors left in Mexico to come to Kansas City.

   On August 5, 1926, Fr. Munoz sent the Bishop his resignation as pastor and the Augustinian Recollects came to the parish in the person of Frs. Leonard Azcona and Augustine Cuartero, ORSA.  Fr. Munoz wrote Bishop Lillis that he wished to resign the pastorate so he could be a missionary to the Mexican people living in the U.S. He planned to go to Chicago and work under the suspices of the Catholic Church Extension Society.  The Bishop replied that he would accept the resignation when he could find a successor to Fr. Munoz.  He added that he hoped after the books were audited “much of the unnecessary criticism among people of the congregation will discontinue.”(Munoz to Lillis, 5 August 1926; Lillis to Munoz, 7 August 1926.)

   With the coming of the Depression the population of the West Side decreased by half.  Some returned to Mexico, others went to other cities to find work. (Dos Mundos.)

   The Augustinians were there for two years and they departed.  Apparently they did not wish to be burdened with a school or to pay the interest on the $10,000 remaining for the purchase price of the Church.

   “I regret that I cannot comply with your request to be relieved of the burden of the school or of the obligation of paying the interest on your loan, and as you say it is utterly impossible for you to continue on with work, I will relieve you of the charge of the parish and will do so by the first of September and I will make such arrangements for the conducting of the school and for taking care of the spiritual welfare of the people as I possibly can,”

(wrote Bishop Lillis to Fr.Azcona, on July 17, 1928.)

     After the Augustinians left in 1928, Fr. Bernard Hale, director of Catholic Charities took over the parish.  In June 1929, the Franciscan Fathers took over, and they would remain until 1943.  This arrangement was negotiated in the train station in St. Louis by Bishop Lillis with the Franciscan Provincial, Fr. Urban Fruendt, OFM, sometime around November 1, 1928.  Fr. Toribius Christmann, OFM, was pastor, followed by Frs. Fabian Hoerner Paulinus Kranz, Flavin Maltaner (associate), Ubald Schwetschenau, Felix Marsinko and Eugene Russeau.

   In September 1931, a Boy Scout Troop was formed in the parish with Pat Waters as scout master.  The Troop was re-chartered on July 12, 1982, as Boy Scout Troop 106.

    In 1934, there were 291 families with a total of 1376 individuals.  Of these 419 were of grade school age and 27 were in high school or college.  In 1959 there were 992 children in the parish, 462 of whom were of grade school age, and 141 of high school and college age.  There were 1045 adult individuals.

     In 1940, when study clubs were a major movement in the entire Diocese the parish had the largest single study club with 75 members.

     The Catholic Youth Organization of the parish fielded a team who became Senior City and Divisional basketball champions of 1941.  They were: Max Arreguin, Fi Hernandez, Pete Hernandez, Lalo Nieto, Ray Rodriguez, Al Tamayo, Amado Tamayo, and Mel Bergman, coach.

     Elected officers of El Centro Catolico, the oldest men’s organization in the parish in 1941 were: Manuel Lopez, president; Leonardo Herrera, vice-president; Meliton Gutierrez, secretary and Jose Rodriguez, treasurer.  In honor of the event Dolores Gomez and Maria Aredondo arranged for an entertainment.

     In 1943, the Augustinians returned to the parish, this time with Fr. Cuartero as pastor and Fr. Gerard LaMountain a native of Kansas City as associate.  Other priests have been:  Damian Gobeo, Jose Maria Santiago, Roman Iribarren, Xavier Losacros, associates.  Jose Urrutia, Christopher Belber, Etelvino Iglesias, Anthony Palos, Gabino Perez, Albert Pelt, Augustine Morales, and Clarence Krajicek.

   A 1950s sociological study one of the population of Kansas City found that the Mexican-Americans had adjusted well to urban living but were not financially well off. Language was a major handicap.  The men worked on the railroads, in the packing plants and in factories.  Few of the women worked outside the home.  Family incomes were rarely over $3600.  Families typically had four to six children.  The people had a strong sense of community, which was nurtured by the local parish church.

   Parish histories seem to consider the period of 1948-1951 a golden age in the spiritual and temporal life of the parish.  This was the pastorate of Fr. Damian Gobeo.

   The flood of 1951 devasted the west bottoms.  Every member of the parish joined in the effort to give shelter to more than 1500 people displaced by the flood.

   On February 21, 1954, Bishop Edwin O’Hara presented the Golden Star medal give by the government to mothers who had lost sons in World War II and the Korean conflict.  The event was sponsored by the Ralph Sifuentes American Legion Post 437, named for the first soldier from the parish killed in action in World War II.  Those receiving the medals and the names of the sons are:

   Matilda Bolanos, for Filiberto Bolanos; Elena Cano, for Filomeno Cano; Family of Alberto Valdivia; Cecilia Juarez, for Pablo Juarez; Andrea Lopez, for Ricardo Lopez; Isaura Mendoza, for Manuel Mendoza; Julia Merino, for Jesus Merino; Inocencia Morales, for Carlos Morales; Maria Orezco, for Teodoro Orezco; Concha Rodrigues, for Francisco Rodriguez; Maria Sifuentes, for Ralph Sifuentes; Consuelo Valenciano, sister-in-law of Louis Valenciano.

   In February 1959, new boundaries were established for the parish:  Begin 17th Street at State Line, south to 25th Street east to Southwest Boulevard, to 24th Street, to West Pennway, to 23rd Street, to Broadway to 22nd Street, to Baltimore, to 20th Street, to Grand to 18th Street, to Southwest Trafficway, to 17th Street to the beginning.”

   Prior to this the boundaries were: 18th Street on the north, Main Street on the east, the Railroad Tracks on the south (24th Street) and State Line on the west. (Fr. Urrutia, ORSA, to Father Koenig, 3 July 1958).

   In the spring of 1959, the West Pennway Plaza housing project was built.  It cost $3,571,575 and could house 250 families in 25 buildings.

   In February 1967, Santos Madrigal and Raphael Zapien headed up a committee to raise the income of the parish.

   Those attending the first Spanish Cursillo (March 1980) from Our Lady of Guadalupe parish were Epifanio Vaca and Serafin Lopez.  Lorenzo Lopez attended from Sacred Heart parish.

   In the Summer of 1973, the stained glass windows were repaired by Hopcroft Art & Stained Glass Works for $2723.

   In June 1979, the parish was given into the hands of Fr. Edward Wagner and Fr. Charles Tobin, diocesan priests who had served in the diocesan parishes in Bolivia.  Later Fr. Robert Crider, also a diocesan priest who spent time in South America, became pastor.

   On October 12, 1990, as the result of a diocesan planning effort it was announced that the parish would be consolidated with Sacred Heart Parish.  The parish site would be that of Sacred Heart but a new parish would be formed with a new name.  It was announced on January 13, 1991, that the name of the new parish would be Our Lady of Guadalupe as that was the wish of the majority of the parishioners.  In September 1992, this name would also be used for the school. Later the name of the parish was changed to Sacred Heart-Guadalupe.

This information was taken from the book “This Far by Faith” A popular history of the Catholic people of West and Northwest Missouri, Kansas city- St Joseph Diocese.  Story by Dorthy Brandt Marra.