March 24, 2021

Father Daniel Pacholec named diocesan director of pro-life activities

REGIONAL
Staff report

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Bishop William D. Byrne has named Father Daniel Pacholec, pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Westfield, as diocesan director of pro-life activities.

“The church recognizes the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death,” said Bishop Byrne. “I am grateful that Father Dan Pacholec has accepted this responsibility of advocating for the protection of the most vulnerable among us, especially the unborn and the elderly.” 

Father Pacholec has led several efforts as pastor to promote the dignity of life from the moment of conception to natural death. In January, he held a Holy Hour for Life to pray for conversion of hearts on the issue of abortion as the nation marked 48 years since Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion on demand in the United States.

“I am humbled to have been asked by Bishop Byrne to work with so many others who have been tirelessly standing up for all life issues here in our diocese for many years. So much has been done, yet there is so much more to do,” said Father Pacholec.

Father Pacholec said one of his top priorities is to make sure women facing a crisis pregnancy know there is support for them through pro-life agencies, including Bethlehem House Pregnancy Care Center in Easthampton; New Directions in North Adams; Alternatives Pregnancy Center in Greenfield; and Clearway Clinic in Springfield. All four receive funding assistance from the Annual Catholic Appeal. He said Catholics also need to prayerfully stand firm against legislative efforts which would legalize physician-assisted suicide in Massachusetts.

“I ask for prayers and support for the pro-life efforts and activities here in western Massachusetts, to pray that amid the perceived challenges life always holds, that all people might see life as a gift to be cherished, and not a burden. I believe that is the whole of the work of the pro-life movement,” he said.

Father Pacholec was born and raised in Holyoke and is a graduate of the former Holyoke Catholic High School and Amherst College, where he received his bachelor of arts degree cum laude as a double major in psychology and English. He has run the Boston Marathon six times for various charities.

In 1992 he entered Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston as a seminarian for the Diocese of Springfield. There he received his master of divinity degree and was ordained a priest in 1996. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at Holy Cross Parish in Springfield from 1996-1999. He served as parochial vicar of St. Michael Parish in East Longmeadow from 1999-2001 before being appointed vocations director for the Diocese of Springfield. He served in that capacity until 2004, when he was named pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Westfield.

He will continue in his role as pastor while accepting these new duties.