Father Paul Daly's Silver Jubilee

Fr Daly and Bishop Kelly who ordained him

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Four bishops and two archbishops, together with civic, ecumenical and inter-faith guests, are among the visitors coming to Heywood on Sunday 19 July to celebrate twenty-five years since Fr. Paul Daly was ordained as a priest.

Fr Daly, parish priest at Our Lady and St. Joseph’s parish, explained: “Everyone is invited to join me in giving thanks to God for twenty-five years as his priest. I am delighted that our Bishop, our retired Bishop, and his predecessor, who ordained me, hope to be with us, as well as the Archbishop of Birmingham and the Bishops of Shrewsbury and Leeds, who were all priests at my ordination.

“We will be joined by brother priests and also clergy of the different churches in our town.

“Quite a lot of my family hope to come too, which will be an occasion of joy, particularly since my father died last February.

“Finally and most importantly, it is above all a celebration for parishioners and other friends from the town. It’s not about me or about one priest; it’s thanking God for the gift of priesthood and also for our shared calling to worship of God and service of others.”

Fr Daly grew up in Denton and, in 1983, following his A-Levels, began his studies for the priesthood in the Venerable English College in Rome. The English College was founded in 1362 for visiting pilgrims and, following the accession of Elizabeth I, became a seminary for the training of priests.

Fr Daly writes: “The English College was founded in the days when simply being a Catholic priest in England was treason punishable by death. The third Rector of the English College, William Holt, was born in Ashworth Hall in Heywood in 1545. Rome was a great place to study and has given me a love of all things Italian. It gave me a great sense of the universal nature of the Catholic Church. Over the seven years, for example, I met Pope (now Saint) John Paul II many times since he was our local Bishop. WE had the chance to listen to visitors such as Mother Teresa and Leonard Cheshire, VC.”

On July 22 1990 Fr Daly was ordained a priest at his home parish of St. Mary’s in Denton.

His first appointment was to St. Edmund’s in Little Hulton in Salford where he was also part of the chaplaincy team at St. Ann’s Hospice.

He recalls: “My involvement with the Hospice is by far one of the most profound of my priestly life. Hospices, as many readers will know, are places of grace and life where those who are very poorly go for respite or to live out their last days with dignity. Those years shaped me very deeply.”

Four years later, Fr. Daly was asked to join the Catholic Missionary Society, a team of priests who preached parish missions around England and Wales. One of its first members, in 1905, was Father Thomas Byles who later died aboard the Titanic and whose cause has been suggested for canonisation.

Over the next six years Fr. Daly preached parish missions in every diocese in England and Wales, bar one, and in the Diocese of Gibraltar.

Following a year of studies at Boston College in the United States, Fr Paul returned to the Diocese of Salford and to St. Augustine’s parish, Chorlton on Medlock, the parish in which his father had been baptised, as had his parents and great grandparents before him. He was asked to be the Director of Junior Clergy, a role which carried responsibility for the priests in their first five years, and to work in Adult Faith Formation.

In 2004 he came to Heywood to succeed Father Duggan as parish priest of St. Joseph’s.

In January 2010, he succeeded Fr Ryan at Our Lady and St. Paul’s, Darn Hill, following Father Ryan’s sudden death.

In March 2011 both parishes were amalgamated to become the parish of Our Lady and St. Joseph’s, Heywood, with Fr. Daly as its first parish priest.

In those eleven years Fr. Paul has been part of the establishment of Holy Family College as Greater Manchester’s only RC and CE College, the reestablishment of Churches Together in Heywood, the reforming of the SVP which led to the establishment of Heywood FoodBank and various other initiatives.

Looking back over twenty-five years of priesthood Fr Daly recalls: “After the gifts of life and of faith the greatest gift God has given me is a share in the priesthood of Jesus.

“Nothing compares to the great privilege of uttering those words day after day ‘This is my Body. This is my Blood.’

“Nothing compares to the privilege of standing at a bedside in the early hours of the morning and saying ‘may the Lord save you and raise you up’ or entrusting a soul to God by saying ‘go forth, Christian soul.’

“Even in the busyness of increasing admin, and governing schools and looking after listed buildings, and all that consumes my time, the heart of a priestly vocation is to point out the presence of Jesus and enable people to meet him as surely in the Heywood of 2015 as once in the Jerusalem of AD 30.

“The last twenty five years have been, in many ways, out of this world.

“From anyone whom I have angered or upset in those years I ask forgiveness.

“From everyone I ask for prayers that God will use me for the next twenty five years and beyond.”

Fr. Paul Daly's Silver Jubilee will be marked by a Concelebrated Mass at St. Joseph’s on Sunday 19 July at 3.00pm, followed by a meal for the congregation in the Parish Centre and adjacent marquee.