FR. DAN PACHOLEC
SPRINGFIELD – Bishop William Byrne has named Fr. Daniel Pacholec, the pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Westfield, as the diocesan director of pro-life activities.
Pacholec has led several efforts as pastor to promote the dignity of life from the moment of conception to natural death. In January, Pacholec 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 in all 50 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 Pacholec.
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.
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 B.A., cum laude, as a double major in Psychology and English. Pacholec has run the Boston Marathon seven 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 Masters of Divinity 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 Vocation 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.
