READY TO LEAD—Jarlath Dolan, the new priest at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in the Westlake portion of Thousand Oaks, brings more than 35 years of experience to the congregation. The Los Angeles Archdiocese recently assigned Dolan to St. Maximilian, which is the spiritual home to about 2,100 families. SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn Newspapers The Rev. Jarlath Dolan, the new pastor at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Westlake Village, says he’ll draw on his four decades of experience in the priesthood to help local parishioners with their spiritual needs. He also plans to join forces with the congregation and continue the philanthropic works started by previous church leaders.

“One of my goals is to empower others and work in a collaborative way with the community,” Dolan said. “No one person has all the wisdom; everyone has a part of the wisdom, so leadership is a shared effort.”

The Rev. Peter O’Reilly established the St. Maximilian parish in 1992. It serves about 2,100 families.

Dolan, 60, replaces the Rev. Patrick O’Dwyer, who died last year. An interim pastor, the Rev. Michael Carroll, administered the church until Dolan arrived July 1.

“I’m honored to be in the Westlake Village community. I look forward to the years ahead,” Dolan said.

Deacon Vince Tomkovicz, who has been at St. Maximilian since 2000, said Dolan is personable and well-liked by his parishioners.

Dolan grew up in Galway, Ireland, and entered seminary school in his homeland at age 18. He joined the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 1974 shortly after his ordainment.

Dolan began his career as associate pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Covina. A decade later he transferred to the archdiocese’s marriage tribunal, where he worked as an assistant director.

“My primary focus was to assist people who were either married before or wanted to marry someone who was divorced and whose spouse is still alive,” he said.

Later Dolan became pastor of the Transfiguration Church on King Boulevard in Los Angeles. In 1999 he transferred to Blessed Junipero Serra Catholic Church parish in Camarillo.

“I’ve been very fortunate through the last 36 years. Every assignment has challenges, but there are a lot of good times,” Dolan said.

Dolan said the Catholic Church has changed some of its practices in recent decades in order to stay relevant in the modern world but its fundamental theology remains unaffected.

As the head of the local church, Dolan’s duties include teaching, counseling, administrating, volunteering and upholding the faith of the Roman Catholic Church.

“The church community is an anchor for people. It’s like a support group,” said Dolan.

The most important function of the priesthood is spiritual and sacramental leadership. Catholic priests are involved with many different stages in the life of a parishioner, including some of their happiest and saddest moments.

They partake in baptisms and weddings, and they help parishioners cope with impending death.

“Catholic people really open up to priests, particularly as death is coming near,” Dolan said.

But being a priest became a challenge after the sexual abuse scandals made headlines.

“It was devastating to see the suffering that some of the victims have been through and to watch priests who were held in high esteem be accused,” Dolan said.

Many priests were falsely accused and had to work hard to prove their innocence, but the controversy served to cleanse the church’s sanctuaries from wrongdoers, the pastor said. The archdiocese now hosts abuse prevention training programs throughout the Los Angeles area to protect children and prevent future incidents.