Father Alejandro (Alex) Ayala is the pastor of St. William Church in Murphy and Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Hayesville, North Carolina.
Father Alex was born in 1961 in a small sugar mill town in Santa Maria, Argentina. He came to the United States in 1994 in search of freedom. On the day of his First Holy Communion and Confirmation, when he was just 8 years of age, the future Father Alex received his call to the priesthood. “It took me 31 years to answer God's call”, he said with a smile.
In the year 2000 he was sent by the Diocese of Charlotte to St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA. He had a wonderful experience there, studying under the Benedictine monks. He was ordained in 2006 by Bishop Peter Jugis and was assigned to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Salisbury, NC for one year. He then served at St. Leo the Great Church in Winston-Salem for three years as Parochial Vicar. In 2010 he became the Pastor of Saint Mary, Mother Of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. He became pastor at St.William Catholic Church in 2013.
Fr. Alex sets his goals by living one of his favorite quotes: “That shall be my life, to scatter flowers, to miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, hear by a smiling look, there by a kindly word, always doing the tiniest thing right, and doing it for love.” St. Terese of Lisieux