The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a society of Catholic priests founded in Rome in 1575. In 1671, a congregation was formed in Granada. They contracted architect Melchor de Aguirre to design this church dedicated to the Virgen de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows). It was finished in 1699. In 1835, Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, the Prime Minister of Spain, ousted the Oratorians (as well as several other religious orders). He seized the church’s assets and sold them at auction to pay the government’s debts. The structure was abandoned and badly deteriorated until acquired by the Redemptorists in 1913. These Catholic missionaries are devoted to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
