A trusted advisor to Toledo’s bishop

By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger

TOLEDO, Ohio — Around Christmas Time, two months after his installation as Bishop of the Toledo Diocese in 2014, Bishop Daniel Thomas attended a dinner hosted by a couple who belonged to the parish that then-Father Dennis Walsh led. Father Walsh was among the guests. “It was very clear from the beginning that he had a warm personality and a quick Irish wit,” Bishop Thomas said during an interview in his office Aug. 15 with The Catholic Messenger’s editor. The dinner, he added, became a tradition.

Bishop Thomas came to recognize Father Walsh’s leadership skills and assigned him as pastor of what became the three-parish grouping of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Delphos, St. John the Baptist Parish in Landeck and St. Patrick Parish in Spencerville.  He also served as head of school for Delphos St. John’s School (PreK-12). “My esteem and respect for him was evident very early on because I named him to be pastor in a very challenging situation,” Bishop Thomas said.

His esteem and respect extended to appointments for Father Walsh to the College of Consultors and the Presbyteral Council, both of which he chaired at one point or another. He also has served as dean of a deanery (a group of parishes in a specific area) and on numerous boards, committees and consultative bodies involved in “the oversight and governance of the diocese,” Bishop Thomas said.

“He’s very well respected and regarded by other priests. That comes from his priestly integrity. He is both paternal and fraternal. … There’s a fatherliness and a brotherliness to his persona.”

Bishop Thomas also tapped into Father Walsh’s competency in financial and administrative matters. The two were comfortable seeking advice from each other. “He’s been an invaluable advisor on many levels,” Bishop Thomas said.

All of these gifts led to the Vatican announcement June 25 of Father Walsh’s appointment to serve as 10th Bishop of the Davenport Diocese, news that stunned him because of his humility, said Bishop Thomas, who advised now-Bishop Walsh on some of the practical matters of preparing for the Episcopacy.

“This is the first time in the history of the Diocese of Toledo that one of our own priests has been named directly to become the Ordinary of another diocese,” Bishop Thomas announced in his own statement that day. He said that Bishop Walsh’s “fidelity to Christ and his Church, his pastoral and practical wisdom, his administrative and leadership aptitude, his love for the people of God, and his warm, jovial personality will serve him well as he shepherds the local Church of Davenport.”

The Vatican wanted to make the announcement a week earlier but agreed to a brief delay because the bishop-elect did not want the news to overshadow the priests’ convocation and the ordination of two new priests for the Toledo Diocese, Bishop Thomas said. “He didn’t want to be the center of attention. … He wanted the focus to be on them. To me, that speaks volumes about the type of priest he is.”

Bishop Thomas felt honored and gratified to share insights and advice with his future brother bishop. “It’s like serving as a big brother to someone. I was delighted to help him during this time of transition.” That guidance included recommending someone to design his coat of arms and narrowing his choices for episcopal motto. Father Philip G. Bochanski, vicar general and moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, had designed Bishop Thomas’ coat of arms and now, Bishop Walsh’s. The motto that appears on his coat of arms is “Into your hands, Lord,” which comes from Psalm 31:5 (Psalm 30:6 in the Latin Vulgate). The motto “reflects the obedience and surrender of Jesus,” Bishop Thomas said, “and that’s the kind of priest he is.”

Bishop Thomas gifted one of his zucchettos and a pectoral cross to Bishop Walsh. The zucchetto, however, was one size too small! He also invited the future bishop to choose a bishop’s ring and crosier from the Toledo Diocese’s patrimony, with the caveat that in his will, Bishop Walsh would stipulate return of those items to the Toledo Diocese.

Bishop Walsh asked Bishop Thomas to serve as a co-consecrator at the Mass of ordination and installation Sept. 27 and to preach the Vespers service the evening before. Bishop Thomas said it is an honor “to join with the people of Davenport in rejoicing and in receiving their new bishop.”

Advice for the new bishop:

Bishop Daniel Thomas shares this advice with Bishop Dennis Walsh as he embarks on his journey as 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport:

• Don’t make evening pastoral commitments back to back every night of the week.
• Carefully guard your prayer time with the Lord.
• Your worship at the altar is more important than your time at the desk.
• Have no doubt that this is the Lord’s will. You were made for this.