This article was re-printed with permission from The Spokesman-Review, our media partner
The Most Rev. Thomas Daly was installed as the seventh bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane Wednesday as the fifth and sixth bishops looked on.
Hundreds of people packed into the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes for Daly’s installation Mass, including family and friends of Daly’s. Half the church was filled with deacons and priests from all corners of the diocese, which covers 13 counties in Eastern Washington.
Sharon White said she hoped to meet the new bishop Wednesday afternoon but came to the Mass because of her faith.
“There’s just this sense of belonging and faith and love,” she said. “It just brings so much joy to your life.”
Daly, 55, was introduced by Archbishop Peter Sartain. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who is the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, read the apostolic mandate signed by Pope Francis appointing Daly as the new bishop of Spokane. Vigano prayed for a “special outpouring of the Holy Spirit” on Daly as he takes his new post.
The Spokane Diocese had been without a bishop since the Most Rev. Blase Cupich was named archbishop of Chicago in November. Cupich began serving as bishop of Spokane in September 2010, replacing retiring Bishop William Skylstad. The diocese has struggled in recent years, filing for bankruptcy in the face of numerous sexual abuse lawsuits and then suing the lawyers that represented it in the bankruptcy after accusing them of mishandling the case.
Daly was recently the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Jose in California as well as pastor of the St. Nicolas and St. William parishes in Los Altos. He grew up in San Francisco, one of seven children, and attended Catholic schools. He was ordained a priest in 1987 and earned a master’s degree in education from Boston College in 1996.
Daly’s sense of humor was evident in his homily based on the story of Paul in the Acts of the Apostles. When Paul left the city of Miletus and said he would not return, the presbyters of the church wept loudly and threw their arms around him before escorting him to his ship.
“Paul may have experienced that, but I did not,” Daly said.
Instead, Daly said, the priest that helped him with his parishes in Los Altos asked him how soon he could leave the rectory.
“There was one similarity to Paul,” he said. “They escorted me to the airport.”
At the end of the Mass, Daly thanked everyone for their help with his transition and said it was his first experience moving so far from his family in California.
“This is the furthest move of my life,” he said.
Cupich said he was pleased to be able to come back to Spokane for the installation of his successor.
“I just love seeing people that are so filled with faith and people so supportive of me in my four years here,” he said. “It’s just wonderful to have a homecoming like this,” he said.
The Mass was only open to those with tickets, but a reception following the Mass was open to the public, and people appeared eager to meet their new bishop.
As he worked his way out of the Cathedral and around the corner to the reception, Daly could move only a foot or two at a time as he shook hands, posed for pictures and greeted everyone who approached him.
Ellie and Bert Lomax couldn’t get tickets for the Mass but came to the reception hoping to meet Daly.
“We’re both active Catholics and we look forward to welcoming him,” Bert Lomax said.
The couple belongs to St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Spokane.
“It’s a beautiful and joyful moment,” Ellie Lomax said. “We wanted to be a part of it.”
