Thomas Anthony Daly

Daly was named auxiliary bishop of San Jose and titular bishop of Tabalta by Pope Benedict XVI on March 16, 2011.[4] He attended his first diocesan event at the Mass in Celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Diocese of San Jose, and was consecrated bishop on May 25, 2011 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph by Bishop Patrick Joseph McGrath of San José, with Archbishop George Hugh Niederauer of San Francisco and Bishop George Leo Thomas of Helena co-consecrating in the presence of Roger Cardinal Mahony.[5]

On September 16, 2013, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who is also the President and Chancellor of Saint Patrick's Seminary, named Bishop Daly as the interim President/Rector of the seminary.[6] This is the first time in the history of the seminary that the rector has not been a member of the Society of St. Sulpice.[7] Bishop Daly, who is also on the seminary's board of directors, served as rector until the Sulpicians nominated a new rector/president, Father Gladstone Stevens, PSS, who became rector at the beginning of the new academic year in the Fall of 2014.[6]

On March 12, 2015, Daly was appointed by Pope Francis as bishop of Spokane. He was installed on May 20, 2015.

Unlike his predecessor as Bishop of Spokane, now Cardinal Blase Cupich, he is seen as a theological conservative. He has stated that politicians who identify themselves as Catholic and support legal abortion should be denied communion until they change their stance.[8]

In a February 19, 2020 statement Daly wrote he was concerned by the Gonzaga University School of Law’s establishment of an LGBTQ+ Rights Clinic without first consulting him.[9] The clinic’s stated aims are “to advance the equal rights and dignity of individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ through education, programming, advocacy, research, and legal representation.”[10] In his statement Daly speculated that the clinic might bring the Law School “into conflict with the religious freedom of Christian individuals and organizations,” and expressed fear that the Law School “will be actively promoting, in the legal arena and on campus, values that are contrary to the Catholic faith and Natural Law.”[9]

In June 2020, Daly referred to the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter by saying "it is disturbing that BLM has not vocally condemned the recent violence that has torn apart so many cities." He said that the movement conflicts with the teachings of the Catholic Church.[11]