Rev. Fred Daley, right, talking with parishioner Cody Stahl, is the pastor at All Saints Church in Syracuse, a Catholic parish that has ministries devoted to the LGBTQ+ communities and other marginalized groups, including immigrants and former refugees. Daley came out as a gay priest in 2004 while serving as pastor at St. Francis de Sales Church in Utica. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

Bishop Douglas Lucia came to All Saints Catholic Church on Monday night to quell a loud outcry at his announcement Wednesday that the church’s pastor, Rev. Fred Daley, 79, would be retiring on Jan. 2 and be replaced by a younger priest.

Lucia met with the pastoral team from All Saints and its sister church, St. Lucy’s, and issued a statement explaining his decision to retire Daley, a popular gay activist priest.  

Daley had recently accepted an appointment to pastor both churches and help lead the Costello Project, a new effort to mesh resources of both churches and three other ministries to serve the poor and marginalized on Syracuse’s South Side.

Lucia said Daley’s replacement, Rev. John Manno, 51, just completed his 12-year assignment as pastor of Holy Family Church in Fairmount and told the bishop he had “a strong desire to return to inner-city ministry,” the statement says.

That led Lucia to realize that placing Manno in the role of pastor for the Costello Project would provide “more stability” for the project than having Daley oversee it short-term, said Danielle Cummings, chancellor and spokesperson for the Diocese of Syracuse.

“Bishop Lucia chose to appoint Father Manno as pastor of both All Saints and St. Lucy’s churches now so he can shepherd the Costello Project from its inception, rather than initiating a secondary transition in six months,” the statement says.

The bishop didn’t speak Monday night with more than 150 parishioners who packed the pews at All Saints for a 7 p.m. prayer vigil to console each other over the sudden sidelining of Daley, who has led All Saints since its founding 18 years ago.

Daley had been slated to take over leadership of St. Lucy’s on the retirement of its pastor, Rev. Jim Mathews, 89, on Dec. 31, and lead both parishes through July, when the churches would hire a lay administrator. Then Daley would join a sacramental team celebrating Masses and doing ministry work.

The abrupt change of plans upset parishioners at All Saints who expected Daley to continue to serve as their spiritual leader for several more years.

The timing of the bishop’s announcement – just weeks after Daley had been criticized for allowing a Democratic “Get Out the Vote” event by progressive Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be held at the church – led many parishioners to suspect it was punitive.

Parishioners gathered in the church’s sanctuary Monday while Lucia met with the pastoral staffs at All Saints Parish Center next door. But although several worshippers described themselves as hurt and angry, the mood at the vigil was subdued.

The sanctuary was dark except for a few candles on the altar and projected on a screen above it.  For about a half hour, those gathered read prayers, sang hymns and chanted Latin phrases of worship.

Parisioner David Shannon read a statement asking members to pursue peace and forgiveness even as they suffer from the impending loss of their beloved pastor.

“We need to focus not on trying to change the unchangeable, but on continuing to expand this beautiful oasis,” he said. “We must forgive and move forward, continuing to serve the most forgotten.”

Parishioners Katie Clinton and Rich Cherney instructed attendees that they were not there to disrupt the discussions next door. They said the church requested that Lucia hold a listening session with members of both parishes at a later date, “but we don’t know if that request will be honored,” Cherney said.

Some parishioners said that either way, Lucia’s handling of the situation so far showed no consideration for them or Daley, who learned of his own retirement hours before it was announced to the diocese.

Kip Hargrave, a member of St. Lucy’s parish council, said his church is ready to work with Rev. Manno to pave the way for the Costello Project. “But hopefully, tonight also sends a message to the bishop that we are not happy about how this was done,” he said.

“Most of us have known Father Daley a long time and consider him the best pastor in the diocese,” Hargrave added. “We wish the bishop would have sat down with us and talked about this before he did it.”

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Janet Gramza is an alumnus of Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Comminications and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She has 30 years experience in journalism and is a veteran...