All of his experience came into play in his role as spiritual leader of the 1.6 million Catholics who reside in the New York City counties of Kings and Queens, which comprise the Diocese of Brooklyn. Known as a  "Diocese of Immigrants" because of the continual flow of new arrivals from foreign lands, the Diocese maintains a large network of parishes, schools, social services and health care facilities.

Born in Belmont, Mass., Sept. 23, 1927, the second of four sons of John and Mary Vose Daily, Bishop Daily was educated in the Belmont public school system and Boston College before beginning studies for the priesthood at St. John' s Seminary in Brighton, Mass. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston by Richard Cardinal Cushing in Boston' s Holy Cross Cathedral Jan. 10, 1952.

In that same month of ordination he received the first of two assignments to St. Ann's Church in Wollaston, Mass., where he served for eight years before volunteering for the Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle in Peru. After five years there he returned to St. Ann' s for six years.

From 1971 he progressed in two-year intervals from secretary to Humberto Cardinal Medeiros to Chancellor to Vicar for Temporalities. In 1975 he was raised to the episcopacy as Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and a year later was appointed Vicar General.

In 1984 Bishop Daily left his native archdiocese when Pope John Paul II chose him to be the founding bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach. Six years later he was named the Bishop of Brooklyn, succeeding Bishop Francis J. Mugavero.

Bishop Daily formerly served as the Supreme Chaplain of the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus, the fraternal order that employed his father as an accountant and general insurance agent for many years. The Bishop held the position from 1987 until 2003.

He is a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and a member of the boards of the Society of St. James the Apostle in Boston and the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities in Washington.

As the Bishop of Brooklyn, Bishop Daily initiated the seventh Synod of the Diocese, the "Alive in Hope" capital and endowment campaign, the Disciples in Mission evangelization program, a Eucharistic Congress and other projects. In 1995 he welcomed the Holy Father to the Diocese for the celebration of an outdoor Mass attended by some 70,000 of the faithful at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens.

Shortly after arriving in Brooklyn, Bishop Daily wrote his first pastoral letter, "Created in the Image of God," which focused on the issue of racism.  It was dated Dec. 2, 1990. 

Later pastoral letters have included:

"The Church's Response to Disabled Persons," Nov. 3, 1991

"The Holy Eucharist," Nov. 29, 1992

"The Truth in Love: A Pastoral Response to Homosexuality," Aug. 22, 1993

"Compelled to Preach the Gospel," Nov. 30, 1993

"The Image of God Revisited," Dec. 10, 1995

"In Praise of the Fullness of Life," May 31, 1996

"In the Face of Death," January, 1998

"In the Name of Mercy and Justice: On Capital Punishment," May 22, 1999

"Pray the Lord of the Harvest," July 5, 2000

"All Are One in Christ Jesus," (The Clustering Process), Nov. 1, 2001

On the appointment of Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio as the seventh Bishop of Brooklyn Aug. 1, 2003, Bishop Daily became Bishop Emeritus.