Services set for Msgr. Moretti, Assumption pastor emeritus
Funeral Mass will be celebrated March 20, 11 a.m., at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Pasadena for Msgr. August Moretti, 80, pastor emeritus and friend of the late Pope John Paul II, who died March 14.

A canon lawyer and former director of the archdiocesan Matrimonial Tribunal, Msgr. Moretti had a friendship with Pope John Paul II that spanned three decades. In August 1976, Msgr. Moretti drove then-Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, around Los Angeles when the future Pope John Paul was visiting Our Lady of the Bright Mount Polish Church.

This was two years after Msgr. Moretti had met Cardinal Wojtyla at an immigration symposium in Rome, and the two forged a lasting friendship. The Los Angeles monsignor would see the pope every year or two when the native Italian would visit his sister and her family in Rome, where he was born.

Msgr. Moretti had attended the Avezzano junior seminary in central Italy that was destroyed in 1943 by air raids during World War II. He studied at the Philosophical Institute in Rome before transferring to St. John's Seminary, Camarillo, for theology in 1949. He was ordained by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre at St. Vibiana's Cathedral on May 5, 1954.

After serving at several archdiocesan parishes --- including St. Malachy and Holy Cross in Los Angeles, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Sun Valley, and Mary Star of the Sea in San Pedro --- he returned to Rome for graduate studies in canon law at the Gregorian and Lateran universities, leading to the J.C.D. degree.

He was appointed associate director of the Matrimonial Curia (which included the Tribunal and Chancery) when he came back to Los Angeles in 1968, holding that position until 1976 when he was named director of the Curia. In 1973, he became an adviser to Cardinal Timothy Manning on the Charismatic Renewal and, that same year, with the support of the Priests' Senate, he initiated and promoted the archdiocesan Multilingual Apostolate.

He was named Chaplain to the Holy Father (Monsignor) in 1974, and was elevated to Prelate of Honor in 1978. He was also given the honorary titles of Cavaliere and Commendatore in the Order of Merit from the Republic of Italy since 1972. He served as chaplain of the Los Angeles District of the Italian Catholic Federation, the Federated Italo-American of Southern California and Unico National.

Over the years of Msgr. Moretti's active ministry, which included serving as pastor at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary for 20 years beginning in 1984 when his term as head of the Matrimonial Tribunal ended --- he concelebrated Mass with Pope John Paul II at least 15 times.

Msgr. Moretti told The Tidings following the pope's death on April 2, 2005 that one of his favorite papal memories was spontaneously breaking into song together with the then-cardinal on that long-ago August 1976 summer drive down the highway to get a vista view of the harbor at San Pedro.

On his last visit with the pope on Oct. 10, 2004, as recounted in the Tidings' article, "Crooning down the freeway with Cardinal Wojtyla," Msgr. Moretti told how the pope, speaking with great difficulty in half-Italian, half-English said: "Oh, Moretti, 50 years a priest. You know America very well now."

The pope's answer to Msgr. Moretti's reply --- "But, your Holiness, I was not even born there" --- touched him deeply, as a person who had experienced what it was like to minister in a country far away from his homeland.

Whispered John Paul to his longtime friend: "I was not born here in Rome, either."

Msgr. Christopher Kennedy
Funeral Mass was held March 10 at St. Barnabas Church in Long Beach for Msgr. Christopher Kennedy, 90, who died March 2. His served as a priest for nearly 65 years in the archdiocese.

Born in Tarmonbarry, County Roscommon, Ireland, he attended Summerhill College, Sligo, before going to St. Peter Seminary in Wexford. He was ordained June 18, 1944, and began his ministry in the archdiocese as an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Church in Altadena. He later assisted at St. Victor, Sacred Heart, St. Barnabas (Long Beach) and Holy Trinity parishes.

Father Kennedy was named pastor of St. Mary Magdalen in Los Angeles in early 1968, and served there for eight-and-a-half years. On Aug. 1, 1977, he became pastor of St. Barnabas Church. He was elevated to Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) in 1983. His active ministry at St. Barnabas lasted until his retirement in the summer of 1992, when he was named pastor emeritus.

"He was a truly good person," said Anna Kennedy-Kelly, one of two nieces from Ireland who attended his packed funeral at St. Barnabas. "He was interested in everybody and remembered everyone by name. His ministry was a joy to him."

Mary Manning, who has known Msgr. Kennedy since she first started working for him at St. Mary Magdalen as a parish bookkeeper, said he was a wonderful, caring priest who would travel all over the region to visit the sick in his retirement. "He was there for everybody," said Manning, who noted he baptized a baby and two adult family members just last month on St. Valentine's Day.

Sr. Aline Marie Gerber, CSJ
Funeral Mass was held Feb. 19 at Carondelet Center in Los Angeles for Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Aline Marie Gerber, 92, who died Feb. 15. A longtime professor of foreign languages at Mount St. Mary's College, she was known as the "Keeper of the Mansion" on the Doheny campus for the quarter-century of hospitality she extended to guests attending college events held at the historic Los Angeles mansion.

Born in Mexico to Swiss-Italian parents who later moved to the U.S., she earned her BA in English and French from the University of Southern California. She went on to earn her Master's in Romance Languages as well as a secondary teaching credential from UC Berkeley.

In 1946, she came to Los Angeles for her sister's first profession as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. While waiting to enter a PhD program at Stanford, which was in the process of reorganizing the Department of Foreign Languages, she accepted a teaching position at Mount St. Mary's College. She left her teaching position a year later to follow her two sisters into the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

After making her first vows on March 19, 1950, Sister Gerber returned to the Chalon Campus at Mount St. Mary's where she taught Spanish, French and Italian for 19 years. In 1965, she moved to the Doheny campus where, besides teaching, she was academic advisor for exiled immigrants from Cuba whom the college was assisting. For the next 25 years, she was the Doheny mansion's "decorator par excellence" creating floral bouquets for every occasion.

As Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Karen Kennelly, who was president of the college at the time, wrote her: "We have all come to depend on you for your presence, especially at Doheny, and for the innumerable ways you express the hospitality of Mount St. Mary's to all who visit." She is survived by her sister, St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Mechtilde Gerber. Burial was at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Fr. Stephen Necze Vécsey
Funeral Mass was held March 17 at St. Pancratius Church in Lakewood for Father Stephen Necze Vécsey, 82, who died March 9 after a brief illness.

Born István Necze in 1926, he escaped from communist Russia in 1947 to Hungary, where he earned a Doctorate in Russian Language and Literature. In 1957, he fled communist Hungary and came to the United States.

He entered St. John's Seminary in 1969 and was ordained a priest for the archdiocese in 1973 at the age of 47. Father Vécsey served as an associate pastor in several parishes, including St. Finbar, Burbank; Holy Trinity, Los Angeles; St. Peter Claver, Simi Valley; St. Gregory the Great, Whittier; and Holy Innocents, Long Beach. He retired in 1993. Burial was at All Souls Cemetery, Long Beach.

Rita Gaudin
Funeral Mass was held Feb. 16 at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Los Angeles for Rita Gaudin, 94, who died Feb. 10.

The wife of the late Deacon John Gaudin, she volunteered in several parish programs at Holy Name of Jesus Church, including Marriage Encounter, the Charismatic Prayer Group and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Her life of dedication and service was recognized in 1995 by Pope John Paul II, when she was awarded the Benemerenti Medal.

She is survived by three children: Anthony Gaudin, Rosella Barreda and Sandra Wheeler; her sister Eula Despues, her daughter-in-law, Susann Gaudin; her son-in-law, Ubaldo Barreda, and sister-in-law, Geraldine Roux; seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. Memorial donations may be made to Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 2190 W. 31st St., Los Angeles, CA 90018-3490.

Sr. Irene Eva Eleanor Kleinhanz, CSC
Funeral Mass was held March 9 at the Church of Our Lady of Loretto, Saint Mary's, Notre Dame, Indiana, for Holy Cross Sister Irene Eva Eleanor Kleinhanz, who died March 4 at Saint Mary's Convent in Notre Dame.

She taught for many years in archdiocesan schools in Ventura, Van Nuys, Los Angeles and Huntington Park. Sister Kleinhanz also worked with the Poverty Workers with the Poor in Pacoima. Memorial donations may be made to the Sisters of the Holy Cross Ministry with the Poor Fund, Saint Mary's, Notre Dame, IN 46556.

Ramon Marquez
Funeral services were held recently in Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco, Mexico for Ramon Marquez, 73, who died Feb. 25. Among surviving family members are his wife and their 10 children, including Father Esteban Marquez, associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Church, Lomita.

Bernard Bonner
Funeral Mass was held March 13 at St. Philip Neri Church in Lafayette Hills, Pa., for Bernard Bonner, who died March 7 after a long battle with cancer. Surviving family members include his brother, Father William Bonner, pastor of St. Stephen of Hungary Church in Los Angeles.

Condolences may be sent to Mrs. Sandra Bonner, 4126 Justin Court, Collegeville, PA 19436. Memorial donations may be mailed to Abramson Cancer Center, 3535 Market St., Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104 for Brain Tumor Research.

Mary Spiteri
Funeral services were held recently for Mary Spiteri, 82, who died March 15 after a long illness. Among surviving family members are her son, Msgr. Lawrence Spiteri, a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles currently serving at the Vatican. Condolences may be sent to Msgr. Spiteri's sister, Mrs. Doris Kennedy, 1120 W. Deer Horn Lane, North Las Vegas, NV 89031.