• Our Pastor is Fr. Ernesto (Ernie) G. Torres. Born in the town of Tigbauan, province of Iloilo, in the Philippines in 1949, he is the third of seven children of Jose Torres Sr. and Ernestina Granada (+ December 31, 2004). He entered St. Joseph Seminary of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines in June 1961 where he finished High School in 1965. He attended St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines finishing Seminary College-Philosophy in 1968 and Theology in 1971 at the age of 22 years, the youngest in the class. Having obtained a special dispensation from his Bishop, he was ordained a priest at St. Joseph Church in Narra, Palawan on March 19, 1972, at the age of 23 years.

  After ordination, he taught for 5 years at the St. Joseph Seminary from 1971-1975 as Music Director, Latin Teacher and Secretary of the Seminary Faculty. He then, took up Masters in Theological Studies at the Jesuit run campus of the Ateneo de Manila University from 1975-1978 where he focused on Enculturation as a missionary approach to the evangelization of cultures. He successfully defended his Master Thesis entitled: “The Tagbanua Culture from a Christian Viewpoint” in May of 1978 under Rev. Fr. Eduardo Hontiveros, S.J. 

  Returning to Palawan, he immediately sought out and got the support of the Bishop to open the missions for the Tagbanua of West-Central Palawan where he established the Mission Center of St. Nicholas of Tolentino on July 10, 1978. For the next six years, Fr. Ernie worked among natives and settlers from different cultures, who inhabited the underdeveloped area of central Palawan. Through a vigorous campaign of evangelization and Christian formation, 17 different communities of Christian settlers and 3 of Tagbanua indigenous tribes were established.

  In 1984, Fr. Ernie came to Dallas for vacation and stayed with his aunt in Grand Prairie, Tx. It was here where he eventually found his calling to stay and help minister to the needs of a growing population of people coming to the Metropolex from different places and cultural backgrounds. After helping at Immaculate Conception Church in Grand Prairie, as a visiting priest, he got his first assignment as Parochial Vicar of Ennis, Texas in March of 1986, then as Parochial Vicar of St. Bernard Church in Dallas in June, 1991, and finally as Pastor of St. Augustine Church in Dallas on February 14, 1993.

  Having received a call and mission from Bishop Charles Grahmann to study and explore the viability of a new Parish in Mesquite, Fr. Ernie immediately went to task. After laying the groundwork from May-October of 2001, the long process finally gained the approval of the Bishop and the Presbyteral Council of Dallas Diocese to begin celebrating mass for the first time in the city of Mesquite. And on Sunday, December 2, 2001, Fr. Ernie celebrated the very first mass in Mesquite on the First Day of Advent, at the New Generation Church on Ebrite and Main Streets. For the rest of the history of Divine Mercy of our Lord Catholic Church, go to the History page.