Last Updated on February 13, 2012 by
O’Reilly, Thomas C. Right Reverend ; S. T. D., LL. D., Monsignor; chancellor of the Diocese of Cleveland, and pastor of St. John’s Cathedral; born, Cleveland, Feb. 22, 1873; son of Patrick and Delia Readdy O’Reilly; educated, St. Patrick’s, Cleveland 1879-1887; Spencerian Business College, Cleveland, 1887-1888; St. Ignatius College, Cleveland, 1889-1893; St. Mary’s Seminary, Cleveland, 1893-1894; American College, Rome, Italy, 1894-1899; received degree S. T. D., from Propaganda University, Rome, 1899; LL. D., from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 1909; was ordained priest by Cardinal Cassette, June 4, 1898, in the Lateran Basillica, Rome; asst. pastor St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland, July, 1899 to September, 1901; professor and treas. St. Mary’s Seminary, Cleveland, September, 1901, to December 1909; became chancellor of the Diocese of Cleveland, Dec. 2, 1909, and also pastor of the Cathedral Church, Sept. 19, 1911; member Board of Synodical Examiners and Examiners of St. Mary’s Diocesan Seminary, Cleveland; alumnus, American College, Rome, 1911-1912; presided at the 1912 reunion of the Alumni Ass’n, held at the Hollenden Hotel, and Country Club Cleveland; alumnus St. Ignatius College, Cleveland, its first president; member Knights of Columbus; chaplain of Gilmour Council; started the movement for spiritual retreats for men, under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus, the first re-treat of this kind was held in Cleveland in 1904; meets annually, with an attendance of 1,500 to 2,000; these retreats are now an annual affair in most of the towns and cities of the United States.