Priest Assignments/Father Rafael Murillo Ventura

Friday, Aug. 01, 2025

Father Rafael Murillo Ventura was born in El Salvador. He entered the seminary when he was 18 years old after a friend, who was a priest himself, prevailed on him to consider a call to the priesthood after a year-long effort, he said.

At the seminary he found his vocation.

“Day by day you are discovering if you can continue or not,” he said. “Also, the interview that you eventually have with the director or the spiritual director helps you to know if you should continue your vocation discernment or not.”

Fr. Murillo was ordained a priest on Dec. 14, 1996 in his hometown by the Most Reverend Monsignor Jose Oscar Barahona Castillo, Bishop of San Vicente. He was assigned as assistant pastor to a parish for a year before going to Rome to complete an advanced degree in theological studies at the Gregorian Pontifical University. He then spent seven years in Baltimore before returning to El Salvador, where he was assigned as pastor to a parish and teaching in the seminary. 

He came to Utah in 2013, where he served briefly at Saint Francis Xavier Parish in Kearns before being named administrator of Saint Elizabeth Parish in Richfield. This was followed by four years as administrator of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price. For the past six years he has been administrator of Saint Marguerite Parish in Tooele.  

Those assignments were valuable training grounds.

As pastors, “day by day we learn,” he said. “We not only teach, but we also learn from people and from the community. It has been a very helpful training. … That makes you strong and you really understand how important it is to serve, to serve the community and to dedicate your time to them.”

Fr. Murillo was incardinated into the Diocese of Salt Lake City in 2024.

On Aug. 1 he will take his new position as pastor of Saint Mary Parish in West Haven, and he is excited for his new assignment, he said.

“I am motivated to embark on a new experience,” he said, adding that he already has some goals for himself as pastor. “I would like to work for unity, the unity of everybody, no matter where they come from, Spanish or Filipinos or Anglos.” 

He had a message for his future parishioners at St. Mary’s Parish.

“I want to let them know that I come to serve and as pastor, but also to let them know that we also need their support, their prayer and their commitment,” he said.

Fr. Murillo is a homebody who enjoys quiet time and walking his dog, he said.