Father Fabian Lopez

Father Fabian Lopez, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes parish in North Manhattan, died April 21 at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx after a battle with leukemia. He was 47.

Cardinal Dolan offered the Funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes on April 24. Father Lawrence E. Lucas, who is currently temporary administrator at Our Lady of Lourdes and a good friend of Father Lopez’, delivered the homily.

He remembered Father Lopez as a “fine man” and a “fine priest.

“He was the kindest, most compassionate, easy to get along with man,” Father Lucas said. “He loved to laugh, he had a good sense of humor. Everybody just loved him. He was that kind of a priest. Wherever he went, he reflected God’s love for everybody, including the most down and out.”

He said he would remember his colleague as a “peacemaker above all.”

Father Lucas said even as Father Lopez fought illness, he maintained a positive outlook and his sense of humor.

“I assume he did (suffer),” Father Lucas said. “He never complained about suffering, and when there was pain he would just knock it off as a little pain.”

He was named pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in 2003 after having served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Angels in the Bronx since 1999.

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx, he studied for the priesthood at St. John Neumann Seminary Residence and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. Cardinal O’Connor ordained him to at St. Patrick’s Cathedral May 15, 1999. Before pursuing the priesthood he served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in South Korea.

He held bachelor’s degrees in theology and Spanish literature from Fordham University.

His parents, Nora and Eulalio; brothers Erik, John, and Orlando; and sister, Brenda, survive him.

In an interview with The New York Times in 2009 Father Lopez said of his priesthood, “I see myself sometimes as I have a big family. I’m a spiritual father to a large family, and there are a lot of wants.”

Burial was at St. Raymond Cemetery, the Bronx.