Pope Francis appoints Thomas Daly as new Catholic Bishop of Spokane

Pope Francis has appointed Thomas Daly as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Spokane. The announcement was made early Thursday in Washington, D.C. Daly, 54, succeeds Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, who left Spokane last fall to lead the nation’s third largest diocese. Daly comes to Spokane from San Jose, where he currently serves as auxiliary bishop in the nation’s 10th largest diocese. He was born in San Francisco and was ordained as a priest in 1987. Bishop Daly will spend the next two months completing his obligations in San Jose. His installation in Spokane is set for May 20 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes. The apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, is scheduled to be present. Bishop Daly was born April 30, 1960 and has six siblings. He received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of San Francisco in 1982. He entered priestly formation at St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park, California, where he completed a master’s degree in divinity. He received a master’s degree in education from Boston College in 1996. Bishop Daly was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of San Francisco at St. Mary’s Cathedral on May 9, 1987. Bishop Daly has served as a parochial vicar and pastor and has been engaged as a part-time police chaplain, archdiocesan vocations director, teacher and campus minister and chaplain to St. Vincent’s School for Boys. For 19 years, his ministry focused on Marin Catholic High School in San Francisco, where he eventually served as president. On March 16, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Father Daly auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Jose.