A Mission-Era Sanctuary in the Heart of Gilroy

Meet our pastor

Fr. Michael Hendrickson is a local — born in California and raised right up the road in Morgan Hill. Before the priesthood, he served his country: after the U.S. Naval Academy he spent four years as a Navy officer, then felt a deeper call, entered St. Patrick's Seminary, and was ordained for the Diocese of San José in 2001. His ministry has taken him far. He began at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in San Jose, then returned to the Navy as a chaplain — walking with Marines, Sailors, and their families in Okinawa and aboard the USS Iwo Jima, including Hurricane Katrina relief and a deployment to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf. He came home to lead parishes across the diocese — St. Victor (2008), St. Francis Cabrini (2013), and, since 2019, our own St. Mary Parish in Gilroy.