Precious Blood Father Alphonse Spilly, 80, died July 27 in Ohio, where he had been recovering from an illness.

Born in Hammond, Indiana, he entered the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in 1953 at Brunnerdale, the missionaries’ former high school seminary near Canton, Ohio, and was ordained in 1967. 

Throughout his more than 50 years as a priest, Father Spilly was involved in education ministry and communications for the wider church.

After his ordination, he was an instructor at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, and in 1968, he began advanced studies at the University of Chicago and earned a doctorate in biblical studies in 1977.  

He also served in his congregation’s senate. He was named director of the theologate and of formation in 1972. A scholar of the Old Testament, he also taught at Catholic Theological Union and Mundelein Seminary.

In 1984, he was appointed a special assistant to Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. After the cardinal’s death in 1996, he served as special assistant to Cardinal Francis George for two years. He then served as director of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry at CTU.

In 2000, Father Spilly’s two-volume compilation of Selected Works of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was published by Liturgical Press. 

In 2002, Father Spilly joined the faculty of Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Indiana, as an associate professor of religious studies. He chaired the newly established social justice committee while assisting at four parishes in Whiting.

In 2013, Father Spilly moved to Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, where he became a special assistant to Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller.

Poor health forced his retirement to St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio, in 2017, but he continued to work remotely with Archbishop García-Siller, assisting him with communications.