Brother Richard Daly

Unlike most people in political life, Brother Richard Daly didn’t start out with a burning desire to work for legislative concerns. But like many men in our community, he discovered a new talent after years of rewarding work in other fields.

The first, after he graduated from St. Edward’s University in 1961, was teaching. At Archbishop Curley High School in Miami, he taught English, history, government, and religion. He also coached track.

“That was the one sport I didn’t know anything about,” he laughs, “but there were some good books in the library.”

His research paid off, and the next year he became athletic director. He remembers Miami as a “magic city” and the school staff as “a great group of people,” but in 1964 another opportunity beckoned. A girls’ academy in Wichita Falls, Texas wanted to establish a coed high school. Brother Richard went there as vice principal, became principal of the boys’ department, and eventually principal of the whole institution.

Later, after stints as director of university relations and assistant to the president of Saint Edward’s University, Brother Richard worked as a lobbyist for the Texas private college association. An offer from the Texas Catholic Conference (TCC) followed, and he became its director of education and government relations for five years. In April 1979, the state bishops requested that he serve as Executive Director.

Asked to describe his role, Brother Richard says that he advances the bishops’ legislative agenda.

”We’re getting ready in the area of public policy concerns,” he said, speaking in early November 2002. “For instance, we’d like kids in private schools to get the loan of free textbooks. We’re also supporting legislation to ban human cloning.”

What special skills does a Holy Cross Brother bring to the job?

“A lot of my colleagues in other conferences are lawyers or former judges and legislators, and they know the public policy side of it. They are very curious about how we operate here. Being a Brother has made it easier for me to do the non-public policy side of this job, because Brothers are more focused on ministry.”

“Holy Cross, specifically, is more flexible [as a congregation],” he adds, “and it offers a greater variety of opportunities. In recent years, there is almost no limit on what a person can do.”

The transfer of corporate workers from other parts of the country and Texas’ growing Hispanic population has increased the state’s Roman Catholic population to 25 percent. This growing Catholic presence has also increased Brother Richard’s responsibilities. Almost from TCC’s founding, the bishops have wanted it to serve as a vehicle for inter-diocesan cooperation and collaboration. Brother Richard and his staff run a lot of education programs, including a weeklong scripture seminar with premier scholars, and a parish management seminar.

Brother Richard also gives talks all over the state.

“[In the space of two weeks] the Peace and Justice Commission at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in El Paso has asked me to talk about the broad spectrum of social justice issues of the Church,” he explains. “Catholic Charities is hosting a luncheon of 27 elected officials in Houston, where I’ll discuss the role of TCC and our legislative agenda. And in Fort Worth activists from the Dallas and Fort Worth dioceses are gathering for an all-day workshop on the death penalty, and I’ll provide a verbal snapshot of the legislature, where we have a new Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House, and a first-time Republican majority in the House and Senate.”

He also attends board meetings in El Paso and in San Antonio, where he works with the Mexican-American Cultural Center.

“I always say my knowledge on a variety of issues is about 10 miles long but a 1/4" thick,” Brother Richard laughs. “I’m a generalist — not expert on anything, but I need to know a little about a lot of things, and I find that interesting.”