Grant, O Lord Jesus, that we, too, may give ourselves entirely without reserve to the love and service of our Heavenly Queen in order to better love and serve our fellowman in imitation of your humble servant, St. Maximilian Kolbe. Amen.

Biography of St. Maximilian.

Msgr. Peter is the beloved founding priest of St. Maximilain Kolbe Parish.  He is now retired at St. Lawrence Martyr Parish in Redondo Beach.

Msgr. O'Reilly was assigned to the Archdiocese in Los Angeles from the beginning of his seminary training at All Hallows Seminary in Dublin. He was ordained June 18, 1961, and began his service in Los Angeles on Aug. 2. His most recent assignment before retirement was as pastor of our newly-formed parish of St. Maximiliam Kolbe in Westlake Village from 1992 to 2005. He gathered the new faith community under the banner "We Are Church" as we celebrated Mass in a local school auditorium and later, as our community grew, in a shopping center. Together we built a beautiful new church which was dedicated March 19, 2000.

Other previous assignments for Msgr. O'Reilly include Nativity Parish (1984-92) and St. Brendan Parish (1982-84). He was associate pastor at OLA, in Claremont, CA,  from 1977 to 1982.

After retiring to Pilgrims Place in Claremont, Msgr. Peter moved to St. Lawrence parish in Redondo Beach, California.

The history of our parish can be traced back to 1960 when Cardinal James Francis McIntyre (Archbishop of Los Angeles 1948-1970) realized the growing need for a Catholic presence in the Conejo Valley and established St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church in Thousand Oaks.  Prior to that Catholics in the Conejo Valley had to travel to St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Camarillo or St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Simi Valley to attend Mass and receive the sacraments.
 
In just nine years, St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church was divided and St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church in the Newbury Park area of Thousand Oaks was established.  One year later in 1970 again St. Paschal’s was divided and St. Jude the Apostle Church in Westlake Village was established by Cardinal Timothy Manning (Archbishop of Los Angeles 1970-1985).  In 1976, the Archdiocese purchased 5.7 acres of land at the corner of Kanan and Lindero Canyon Roads for possible future parish development.
 
The area continued with tremendous growth.  In 1989, priests from St. Jude began celebrating Sunday Mass at Oak Hills Elementary School in the Oak Park area of Ventura County beginning with about 50 families. As more families were added, Monsignor Thomas O’Connell, pastor at St. Jude, requested that a new parish be established to meet the spiritual needs of the faithful.  On September 1, 1992, Cardinal Roger Mahony (Archbishop of Los Angeles 1985-2011) established a new parish, St. Maximilian Kolbe, in the Oak Park and North Ranch areas previously part of St. Jude and St. Paschal parishes.  Father Peter O’Reilly was appointed the first pastor of the parish.
 
By 1994, the parish had outgrown the facilities at Oak Hills Elementary School, despite adding more Masses.  The parish leased a space in the North Ranch Pavilions shopping center for a temporary church that could accommodate 300 people.  A fundraising campaign was started and planning committee formed to initiate the construction of a new church.
 
The architectural firm of AC Martin was hired and plans were drawn.  The city of Thousand Oaks and the Archdiocesan Building Commission approved the plans for the new church.  Groundbreaking took place in September 1998.  Construction of the new church, parish offices and preschool was completed in March 2000.  On March 19, 2000, Cardinal Mahony dedicated the new church.  That following September Kolbe’s Korner Preschool opened with Paula Kruer as director.

 
The second phase of construction began with another capital campaign to complete the parish social hall, kitchen and youth ministry room.  Construction was completed in 2002 and the hall was named in honor of Monsignor O’Reilly.
 
Monsignor O’Reilly retired as pastor in June of 2005.  Cardinal Mahony appointed Father Patrick O’Dwyer as pastor.  Previously, Father O’Dwyer was pastor of St. Bruno in Whittier.  With the help of very generous parishioners, Father O’Dwyer was able to pay off the construction debt on the parish hall in a very short time.  In July of 2009, Father O’Dwyer died unexpectedly.  Father Michael Carroll became the administrator-pro-tem of the parish until June 2010.
 
On July 1, 2010, Father Jarlath Dolan became the pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe.  Father Dolan had been pastor of Padre Serra Parish in Camarillo for eleven years.  Under Father Dolan’s leadership, the parish grew to 2,000 families having added many ministries and programs.  Father Dolan remained pastor until his retirement in June 2016.  Father Dolan died in March 2019 after a brief illness.
 
In July 2016, Monsignor Paul M. Albee was appointed fourth pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe by Archbishop José Gomez (Archbishop of Los Angeles 2011 – present).