St. Max haan angel
By Stephanie Bertholdo Bertholdo@theacorn.com

A local resident gave $725,000 to St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Westlake Village to pay off a large portion of the congregation's construction debt, announced the Rev. Patrick O'Dwyer after Easter masses earlier this month.

"The donor wishes to remain anonymous," O'Dwyer said in a statement. The donor directed church officials to use the funds "solely and exclusively" to reduce the construction loan for the church, which was completed in 2000. Parishioners helped pay for the construction of the church through ongoing pledges in a capital campaign after the archdiocese of Los Angeles provided the land on Lindero and Kanan Road.

The $725,000 reduces the amount owed on the loan to $665,000, O'Dwyer said.

Monsignor Peter O'Reilly, the founding pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church, started a building campaign in 1992, when the parish conducted masses at Oak Hills Elementary School and then at a store front in the Pavilions Center in Westlake Village.

The capital campaign, "We Are Church, Together We Build," epitomized O'Reilly's philosophy of church- the people were the center of the parish, and their dedication to God and their community represented the church more than the building.

Two thousand families now belong to the parish.

"I wish to congratulate all of you on the great efforts which you have made over the years to reduce your construction loan and to work so tirelessly to bring it down to zero," said Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, in a letter to O'Dwyer and parishioners.