Fr. Alphonse Spilly, C.PP.S., died at 5 a.m. on Monday, July 27, 2020, at Briarwood Village, Coldwater, Ohio, where he had been recovering from an illness. He was 80 years old.
He was born on November 12, 1939, in Hammond, Ind., to Alphonse P. and Helen (Zaleski) Spilly. He entered the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in 1953 at Brunnerdale, the Missionaries’ former high school seminary near Canton, Ohio, and was ordained on June 3, 1967.
After his ordination Fr. Spilly was named an instructor at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind. In 1968, he began advanced studies at the University of Chicago and earned a doctorate in biblical studies in 1977.
In 1970, he was elected to the C.PP.S. senate. He was named director of the theologate and of formation in 1972. A scholar of the Old Testament, he also taught at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and at Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill.
In 1984, he was appointed a special assistant to Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago. After the cardinal’s death in 1996, he served as special assistant to Francis Cardinal George for two years and then served as director of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Fr. Spilly wrote two volumes on Maccabees in the Collegeville Bible Commentary series. In 2000, Fr. Spilly’s two-volume compilation of Selected Works of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was published by Liturgical Press.
In 2002, Fr. Spilly joined the faculty of Calumet College of Saint Joseph in Whiting, Ind., as an associate professor of religious studies. He chaired the newly established social justice committee while assisting at four parishes in Whiting.
In 2013, Fr. Spilly moved to Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, where he became a special assistant to Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, M.Sp.S., of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
Poor health forced his retirement to St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio, in 2017, but he continued to work remotely with Archbishop Garcia-Siller, assisting him with communications.
In declining health in his later years, his intellect remained sharp and he worked until the last to articulate a message of social justice and Christ’s healing and all-embracing love for the Church and world.
Because St. Charles Center remains closed to the public, a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated privately on Monday, August 3. Fr. Jeffrey Kirch, C.PP.S., provincial director, will preside and Fr. Denny Kinderman, C.PP.S., will be the homilist.
Burial will follow in the Community cemetery.
May he rest in peace.