Fr. Thomas Daly, a San Francisco diocesan priest and vocations director,
has been chosen to become the new Auxiliary Bishop of San Jose,
California.
Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S.,
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, made the Pope's choice public on March 16.
The
50-year-old bishop-designate is currently the president of Marin
Catholic High School in Kentfield, Calif. and the Director of Vocations
for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Bishop-designate Daly is a
native-born Californian, and has been a priest since 1987.
During the
1990s he received a Master of Education degree and taught at Marin
Catholic High School.
He also served as a chaplain with the San
Francisco Police Department, and as a parochial vicar in several
parishes.
Once consecrated as a bishop, Fr. Daly will assist
65-year-old Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, who became head of the diocese in
1999.
In a recent message to the faithful of his diocese, Bishop
McGrath said he would emphasize the areas of liturgy and Catholic
education as “new priorities” in a decade-long strategy for renewing the
Church in San Jose.
The appointment comes just days before the
Diocese of San Jose's 30th anniversary celebration.
Although the
region's Catholic history dates back to the 18th century, San Jose was
established as a diocese relatively recently – on March 18, 1981, the
vigil of the feast of St. Joseph.
Bishop McGrath will celebrate the
anniversary with a Mass on March 19, at the Cathedral Basilica of St.
Joseph.