Happy 50th anniversary to our Cardinal Tobin

On Saturday, Aug. 5, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., archbishop of Newark, celebrates the 50th Anniversary of his First Profession of Vows as a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Redemptorists.

*Joseph Tobin as Seminarian 1969 St. Joseph’s College Edgerton, WI.*

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is a religious congregation within the Catholic Church dedicated to missionary work among the most abandoned in society. The Redemptorists are devoted to Mary as Our Mother of Perpetual Help. As members of a religious congregation, Redemptorists embrace the evangelical counsels, taking the three traditional religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Recognizing that living out the three traditional vows can be truly challenging, each Redemptorist takes a fourth vow and oath –perseverance.

Cardinal Tobin, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark since 2017, has a long history with the Redemptorists. He was baptized at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Detroit and attended the parish’s parochial school.

*Joseph Tobin as a young boy in Detroit when he attended the Most Holy Redeemer parochial school. (Courtesy Tobin Family)*

At an early age, Joseph Tobin felt called to serve as a Catholic priest and applied to join the Redemptorists, who accepted him as a candidate. He attended St. Joseph’s Preparatory College in Edgerton, Wis., the Redemptorist minor seminary. After graduating in 1970, he was received into the Redemptorist novitiate to begin his formation as a member. On Aug. 5, 1973, Joseph Tobin professed vows as a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. On Aug. 21, 1976, he professed perpetual vows with the community.

He continued his education at Holy Redeemer College in Waterford, Wis., receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1975. From 1977 until 1979, he attended Mount Saint Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, N.Y., earning a master’s in religious education in 1977 and a master’s degree in divinity in 1979.

On June 1, 1978, he was ordained into the priesthood for the Redemptorist Order by Archbishop William Cousins at Holy Redeemer College. In 1979, Father Tobin returned to Detroit, where he was appointed the parochial vicar of Holy Redeemer Parish. He was later named pastor, serving from 1984 to 1990. There he was engaged in both pastoral ministry to the Hispanic community and youth ministry. From 1980 to 1986, he served as an episcopal vicar and member of the Presbyteral Council for the Archdiocese of Detroit and assisted at the local diocesan marriage tribunal.

From 1990 to 1991, Father Tobin served as pastor of St. Alphonsus Parish — a parish staffed by the Redemptorists— in Chicago, Ill.

*Priests of Holy Redeemer Parish in Detroit. Cardinal Tobin is fifth from the left in the very back. (Courtesy Tobin Family)*

In 1991, he was elected general consultor of the Redemptorists and superior general on Sept. 9, 1997. He was confirmed for a second term as superior general in September 2003 and became vice president of the Union of Superiors General the same year. From 2001 to 2009, he was also a member of the Council for Relations between the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the International Union of Superiors General.

*Redemptorist Father Joseph W. Tobin, originally of Detroit, when he was elected superior general of the Rome-based religious order. (CNS photo by Joseph M. Donadieu, The Monitor)*

Within the Redemptorist Community, Father Tobin served as a provincial consultor from 1984 until 1990, general consultor of the Community in Rome from 1991 until 1997, and superior general of the Redemptorists in Rome from 1997 until 2009.

On Aug. 9, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI named Father Tobin to the Roman Curia post of secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and titular archbishop of Obba. On Oct. 18, 2012, Pope Benedict appointed him to serve as the sixth archbishop of Indianapolis. He was installed as archbishop of Indianapolis on Dec. 3, 2012. Pope Francis named him to the College of Cardinals on Oct. 9, 2016. He was created a cardinal on Nov. 19, 2016.

On Nov. 7, 2016, Pope Francis named Joseph William Cardinal Tobin to serve as the sixth archbishop of Newark, and Cardinal Tobin was installed there on Jan. 6, 2017.

Besides his responsibilities in the Archdiocese of Newark, Cardinal Tobin has been appointed by Pope Francis as a member of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Synod of Bishops, Congregation for Catholic Education, Pontifical Council for Culture, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Council for the Economy, and Congregation for Bishops.

Cardinal Tobin speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese and reads several other languages. He has participated in many Synods of Bishops and has been a member of the Canon Law Society of America since 1985.

Cardinal Tobin’s anniversary comes on the heels of the Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists, on Aug. 1. Catholics celebrate St. Alphonsus Liguori, the patron saint of moral theologians and the work of lay people, because of his brilliance and productivity.

Cardinal Tobin is currently the only Redemptorist serving as a cardinal in the United States.

*Cardinal Tobin’s visit to the Basilica of St. Alphonsus at Pagani in 2018. (Courtesy Scala News CSsR)*

Featured image: The 1972-73 Redemptorist Novitiate Class. Tobin is fourth from the left top row. (Courtesy North American Conference of Redemptorists)