St. Malachy Catholic Church history goes back to a very simple beginning in November 1926 when Bishop John J. Cantwell appointed Fr. Thomas Butler as the founder pastor of St. Malachy. Father Butler originally celebrated the Eucharist in a rented store-front church located on Manchester Avenue, near the southwest corner of Hooper and Manchester. The small building accommodated about 124 people. Father Butler was succeeded by Fr. James Lynch and then in 1927 by Fr. Francis Woodcutter who wasted no time in building a new church and rectory and eventually a new school for the community. On March 18, 1927 Bishop John J. Cantwell dedicated the new St. Malachy Church. It was with great sacrifice and participation of the faithful that the present St. Malachy came to be an admirable monument to the devotion of the parishioners.

From 1926 until 1945, the parish consisted of about four hundred families whose ethnic background was mainly Italian-Irish, Mexicans and African Americans. Population change came gradually and after World War II the African American community became the majority. In 1968, the parish was entrusted to the Divine Word Missionaries, under the leadership of Father William Adams, S.V.D. who sustained the parish through many difficult years. Following the different pastorals plans of the parish, since 1989, many generous parishioners have shared their time, talent and treasure to renew their parish church. They restored the pews and the church and most recently the parish hall.

The parish of Saint Malachy has grown and changed in the short span of eighty-five years. Today our parish and our school stand proud and tall as a beacon of joy and hope in South Los Angeles. As a parish community we look forward to the future with hope. As our present mission statement expresses: “Our mission is to increase the faith of our parish community by means of the sacramental life, expressed in the gifts and charisms of our different apostolic groups, thus making Christ’s Word present in the third millennium.”