Hundreds of St. Robert Bellarmine parishioners pay tribute to late Monsignor Patrick Reilly
More than 250 parishioners from St. Robert Bellarmine Church in Burbank paid their final respects to pastor emeritus Monsignor Patrick Reilly Tuesday morning.
Reilly, who was born on April 13, 1934, in County Longford, Ireland, passed away on April 4, nine days before his birthday. He was 83 years old.
There was not an empty seat or a dry eye in the church during the roughly 90-minute funeral service for Reilly, who had been a part of St. Robert since 1986 and was integral to the church staying open, several lifelong parishioners said.
Some stayed for the duration of the Mass, with about a dozen or so parishioners sitting in an overflow area just a few feet from the church’s front steps.
Other people quickly stopped by in the back of the church to say a quick prayer and pay their respects to the monsignor.
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez led the Mass that morning and was joined by more than a dozen other clergymen.
Burbank resident Dan Savant, who has been a member of St. Robert since 1938, said Reilly was a warm and kind person who always offered emotional and spiritual support to those who needed it.
“He was this gentleman that I could go to with any kind of problem,” Savant said. “It could be about a myriad of different things, but no matter what it was, you’d get some bit of wisdom out of what he said that would really help you.”
Monica Lewis, a Burbank resident and lifelong parishioner at St. Robert, concurred with Savant, adding that Reilly was practically another member of her family.
She said the monsignor would often check to see if everyone in her family was doing well. Lewis added that Reilly spent time visiting her ill grandfather, who was a parishioner at Incarnation Catholic Church in Glendale, to give him a blessing and offer him communion when he became too weak to attend Mass.
“He was just very involved in our lives, and he was a family friend,” Lewis said. “He was like family.”
Monica Wilke, Lewis’ mother, said Reilly had made a large impact on her and her family. Her children and grandchildren were baptized by him, and he was the officiant at her children’s weddings.
Wilke said she and her family have been very involved with the church thanks to the monsignor. Wilke and her husband, Joe, helped organize St. Robert’s annual festival for 14 years.
Lewis contributes by being a lecturer and a Eucharistic minister.
Savant, Lewis and Wilke all concurred that Reilly will be remembered for his successful effort to bring St. Robert’s members together and get more people involved with the church.
Savant said that before Reilly arrived, there were several factions within the church who did not get along, and it stifled any progress. Savant said the monsignor put an end to that and found a way to encourage parishioners to give more of themselves to the church.
Under the monsignor’s tenure, the church developed several ministries, including a youth ministry, women’s ministry and a Filipino ministry.
“He brought this parish to life,” Savant said.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
