Fr. Robert Vidal sat in a comfy armchair in his two-bedroom apartment next to St. Anne Catholic Church in Seal Beach, a cozy gray sweater covering his black clerical clothing and a warm smile on his face.
“Fr. Bob,” as he is fondly called, was reminiscing about his nearly six decades as a priest, including his role in the early years of the Diocese of Orange, established in 1976.
A decade before then, Fr. Bob, then a 30-year-old, newly ordained priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was assigned to the just-opened St. Bonaventure Catholic parish in Huntington Beach.
Back then, in spring 1966, the church was operating out of a huge, drafty warehouse on Murdy Circle.
Lighting was poor, there was no sacristy, the pews were temporary, there was graffiti on the walls and rain leaked into pots and pans on the cold concrete floor. But Jesus was present, Fr. Bob recalled, and there was lots of enthusiasm and love for the new parish.
“We did baptisms, we did weddings, we did funerals,” he said of working with founding Pastor Fr. Michael Duffy at St. Bonaventure, which was dedicated in 1979 at its current location on Springdale Street.
A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES
Fr. Bob, who turns 88 this June and is pastor emeritus of St. Anne, has a lifetime of memories serving as a parish priest mostly in his native Orange County.
FR. ROBERT VIDAL GIVES A BLESSING TO PARISHIONERS AFTER MASS ON APRIL 16 AT ST. ANNE SEAL BEACH. PHOTO BY STEVE GEORGES/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
Born in Santa Ana in 1936, he grew up in the San Fernando Valley and attended St. Charles Borromeo grammar school in North Hollywood. But Orange County always has been closest to his heart. And seeing the Diocese of Orange grow over the last 48 years has been nothing short of remarkable, he said.
Fr. Bob points out words from Mother Teresa that hang on the inside front door of his apartment:
Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
“That’s exactly what I’ve felt all these years,” said Fr. Bob, who officially retired as pastor of St. Anne in 2011 but remains very active in the parish. “I’ve always just pictured myself as a parish priest. I’ve always wanted to be where the true action is, and that’s at the parish level. After all, that’s what I was ordained for.”
A BELOVED MENTOR
Fr. Bob is celebrated for quietly and humbly going about his priestly duties over the last six decades, especially for ministering to engaged couples and those involved in the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement.
FR. ROBERT VIDAL WAS ORDAINED A PRIEST IN 1966 IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES. PHOTO COURTESY OF FR. ROBERT VIDAL
“I wouldn’t be the priest I am without him,” said Fr. Duy Le, whose first assignment was at St. Anne before he became pastor of San Francisco Solano in Rancho Santa Margarita.
FR. ROBERT VIDAL IS PICTURED WITH MONSIGNOR MIKE HEHER (FRONT ROW, FAR RIGHT), FR. DUY LE (BACK ROW, FAR RIGHT) AND CURRENT/FORMER ST. ANNE PARISH STAFF MEMBERS. PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. ANNE PARISH
Fr. Bob has been a beloved mentor to other priests who have gone on to become diocesan leaders, including Msgr. Stephen Doktorczyk, the former vicar general for legal and canonical affairs who is on loan and serving as a canon lawyer for the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C.
Fr. Bob recalled having numerous conversations with the future monsignor when he was contemplating entering the seminary.
Working at a grocery store at the time, Doktorczyk was a parishioner at St. Bonaventure who served as a chaperone on a retreat for Confirmation candidates.
“The Holy Spirit was moving me,” Msgr. Doktorczyk recalled. “I knew I couldn’t keep kicking the can on making a decision.”
The following week, he talked to Fr. Bob after Mass.
“I’m serious about becoming a priest,” he told him.
“Steve, stop fooling around,” Fr. Bob recalled telling him. “You’re ready.”
Doktorczyk soon entered the seminary.
“I’ve always found Fr. Bob to be welcoming, interested in people, available, patient, giving, and one who would look for solutions, always in a gentle way. He would hear confessions on a daily basis. His authentic love for the faithful entrusted to his care was (and remains) evident, and priests would do well to emulate Fr. Bob’s consistent example of truly caring and wanting to authentically assist each member of the faithful, which springs forth from his living a holiness of life and selflessly assisting others to do the same. That he is a man of prayer is evident.”
FR. ROBERT VIDAL SHARES MEMORIES OF HIS EARLY YEARS IN THE PRIESTHOOD AT HIS HOME IN SEAL BEACH. PHOTO BY GREG HARDESTY
BRUSHES WITH FUTURE LEADERS
Fr. Bob began to think about the priesthood when he started serving as an altar boy in the fourth grade.
His mother was a librarian, and his father was in the grocery business. Both supported his desire to become a priest.
In the 1950s, the future Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served as L.A. archbishop from 1985 to 2011, trained Fr. Bob as a sacristan to help on Sundays his parish St. Charles Borromeo and at the seminary in San Fernando.
Fr. Bob completed his undergraduate studies at St. John’s Seminary College and eventually finished his graduate studies at St. John’s Theological Seminary.
He was in the seminary with the future Orange County Bishop Tod Brown, who was a few years ahead of him.
Fr. Bob’s parents were married at The Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, former cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
That’s where Fr. Bob was ordained, in 1966.
A PEOPLE PERSON
After serving five years at St. Bonaventure, Fr. Bob spent five years at Our Lady of Rosary in Paramount. He returned to Orange County four years later to serve at St. Martin de Porres in Yorba Linda, when the Diocese of Orange was forming.
For the fledgling Diocese, Fr. Bob served under Bishop William Johnson as assistant pastor on the Council of Priests, acting as secretary.
“I really give Bishop Johnson credit for visiting the parishes and listening to people and getting people behind the Diocese,” Fr. Bob said. “He would be out in the parishes each week. He made himself totally available.”
Fr. Bob then served for 12 years as pastor of St. Juliana in Fullerton before starting at St. Anne in 1993.
“It’s a very loving, caring parish,” Fr. Bob said of his home of the past 31 years. “We’re very oriented to family. We’ve really stressed that.”
MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER
Shirl Giacomi and her husband, Pat, first met Fr. Bob in 1978 when he was at St. Juliana’s.
The Giacomis become team leaders with him in 1980 for the Diocese for the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend.
“This was our first experience of being in a church leadership position, and were we blessed!” said Shirl Giacomi, who later served as Chancellor of the Diocese for 15 years. “As we came to know Fr. Bob, we learned how much he loved his vocation,” Giacomi said. “He absolutely adored being a priest. And he was just as eager to give of his time to help married couples thrive in their vocation.”
Giacomi said she and her husband sought out Fr. Bob’s wisdom when coordinating as many as four Marriage Encounter weekends a month.
“Fr. Bob played a significant role in keeping us focused on our ministry as our love for the Church also grew,” Giacomi said. When the Giacomis returned to Orange after spending seven years in Chicago, they became parishioners at St. Anne in Seal Beach and were reunited with Fr. Bob.
“From then on,” Giacomi recalled, “there was never a situation that arose that we first didn’t go to Fr. Bob to find a listening heart and benefit from his wisdom.”
A BUSY SCHEDULE
Since “retiring,” Fr. Bob has continued to prepare couples for marriage, counseled couples going through difficulties and helped others with their annulments.
“He saw the annulment process as a healing tool and he gave generously of his time to determinedly, yet gently work with the petitioner and follow each case,” Giacomi said.
At St. Anne, Fr. Bob still hears Confessions and assists at Daily Mass twice a week, as well as a Mass on Sunday.
“Thirteen years after his retirement, he continues to give us an inspiring example of faithful and generous service to God and His people,” said Fr. John Shimotsu, pastor at St. Anne.
Fr. Bob also maintains a prayer list of parishioners and reaches out to many via phone calls.
In addition, he serves as the Worthy Chaplain to Knights of Columbus Council 9594, chaplain to the parish Women’s Guild, and as spiritual director to several priests
and permanent deacons.
“I have been blessed by his presence and wise counsel,” Fr. John said.
‘GOD SENT ME FR. BOB’
Fr. Duy Le’s first assignment after his ordination in June, 2011, was parochial vicar at St. Anne’s, a parish that hitherto did not have a parochial vicar (assistant pastor) on its roster of priests. Fr. Bob was retiring, and Bishop Tod Brown assigned Monsignor Michael Heher as the new pastor, an office he would carry out in addition to his Vicar General duties.
“I was a little worried that I would be alone part of the time at the parish and trying to figure out how to be a priest on my own,” said Fr. Duy. “God knew my fears and sent me Fr. Bob.”
Fr. Bob was with Fr. Duy for all his “firsts,” from baptisms to funerals to every sacrament.
“He wasn’t there just to show me how to do things but why to do things,” Fr. Duy said. “His ‘why’ was always the people of God. He loved the people so much and the people sure loved him.
“Fr. Bob is one of the holiest, humblest, generous and hard-working men I know. The best parts of me are due in big ways to him.”
NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBORS
Fr. Bob also encouraged Fr. Al Baca, now a senior priest at St. Anne and episcopal vicar for ecumenism and inter-religion, to go into the seminary.
“He has continued to be a friend, a mentor and a father over all these many years,” Fr. Baca said.
He sees Fr. Bob a lot these days. The two live next door to each other.
“He’s an amazing man and very loved here by the people,” Fr. Baca said. “He’s devoted to God and His people, and that’s a great example of priesthood that people love him for. I am proud to be his spiritual son. He has been my mentor from seminary days, throughout my life, and now all these years later at St. Anne.”
Fr. Bob figures he’s probably married a thousand couples or so — 500 at St. Anne alone.
A JOURNEY WITH JESUS
Fr. Bob met both Popes John Paul II and Benedict in Rome and has photos of the encounters on a wall in his living room.
These days, he devotes most of his time to prayer, spiritual readings and reflections.
He’s enduring some health issues these days.
“Aging isn’t for sissies, that’s for sure,” he said.
His favorite story in the Bible is the walk to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) when the Lord appears to two disciples. Luke tells the story of that first Easter afternoon when the risen Christ appears to the two disciples and opens their eyes to his presence.
It’s a story about lighting the fire of God’s love in people’s hearts and of encouraging Christ’s disciples to act in ways appropriate to being “a servant of all.”
In Fr. Bob’s bedroom is a large painting depicting the walk to Emmaus.
“I guess that’s maybe my journey of walking along with the Lord,” he said, “and recognizing Him and being aware of his presence every day of my life.”