Thomas Reese

Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese's column for Religion News Service, "Signs of the Times," appears regularly at National Catholic Reporter.

Reese entered the Jesuits in 1962 and was ordained in 1974. He was educated at St. Louis University, the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, and at the University of California Berkeley, where he received a Ph.D. in political science. He worked in Washington as a writer and lobbyist for tax reform from 1975 to 1978. He was an associate editor of America magazine, where he wrote on politics, economics and the Catholic Church, from 1978 to 1985 and editor-in-chief from 1998 to 2005. He was a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center from 1985 to 1998 and 2006 to 2013. During the summers, he works as a visiting scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. 

While at Woodstock, he wrote the trilogy on the organization and politics of the church: Archbishop: Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church (1989), A Flock of Shepherds: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (1992), and Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church (1996). He also edited The Universal Catechism Reader (1990), an analysis of the first draft of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Episcopal Conferences: Historical, Canonical and Theological Studies (1989). He is also author of a NCR e-book, Caring for Our Common Home: A Readers’ Guide and Commentary on Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Environment (2015).

In 2014, Reese was appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission that reviews the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. He was reappointed to another two-year term in May 2016, and he was elected to a one-year term as chair of the commission in June 2016. His writings for NCR do not necessarily reflect the views of the commission.

Reese was senior analyst for the NCR from March 2013 to June 2017. He is based in Washington, D.C.

By this Author

Pope Francis speaks during the traditional greetings to the Roman Curia in the Sala Clementina (Clementine Hall) of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2016. (AP/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)

Pope Francis' reforms to church governance are unlike any since Vatican II

Francis sees the role of the Curia in a totally different way from earlier popes. The Curia is staff, not part of the chain of command. It is more like civil service than a governing elite. This is revolutionary.

(Unsplash/Eric Mok)

Eucharist: Sacrament of unity and source of division

Pope Francis' June 29 apostolic letter, Desiderio Desideravi, will be of little interest to the vast majority of Catholics who do not oppose the reforms, but need to be drawn deeper into the mystery of the Eucharist. 

Abortion demonstrators are seen near the Supreme Court in Washington June 24 as the court overruled the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision in its ruling in the Dobbs case on a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn)

What has the demise of Roe v. Wade cost the Catholic Church?

Thomas Reese: Now that the bishops and other anti-abortion Catholics have won their fight against Roe, will they embrace a more consistent ethic of life? Will they live up to the extensive social justice agenda they espouse on paper?

Pope Francis arrives in a wheelchair to attend an audience with nuns and religious superiors in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican May 5. (AP file/Alessandra Tarantino)

Why nonsense stories about the pope resigning keep popping up

Thomas Reese: The pope has a lot of unfinished business, and I don't see him walking away from it. Some of his reforms are just now getting started.

The 2022 Seattle University graduation at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, June 12th, 2022. (RNS/Seattle University/Yosef Kalinko)

My generation needs to apologize to the class of 2022

Thomas Reese: The only advice I can give to graduates today is, don’t follow our example. If the next generation opens their hearts to love and compassion, they will be the greatest generation of this century.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio comforts people outside the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center, where students had been transported from Robb Elementary School after a shooting, in Uvalde, Texas, May 24. (CNS/Reuters/Marco Bello)

The Catholic bishops support gun control. Why don't we hear more about it?

Thomas Reese: Hardly anyone in the country knows about the strong and comprehensive position on gun control taken by the U.S. Catholic bishops.

RIP Catholic News Service, gone too soon and when we needed you most

Thomas Reese: The U.S. Catholic bishops are killing off Catholic News Service, one of their most successful national programs. God bless all the CNS journalists who over the years dedicated their lives to the church. They did wonderful work they can be proud of. It is sad to see them go. 

Pope Francis leaves after presiding over a consistory inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Oct. 5, 2019. (AP/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis appoints cardinals, setting stage for election of his successor

Thomas Reese: The pope has made the College of Cardinals more Asian and African — and more likely to elect a successor who will follow his policies.

Cardinals from around the world attend a Mass for the election of the Roman pontiff in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 12, 2013. (CNS/Reuters/Stefano Rellandini)

Avoiding a deadlocked conclave

Thomas Reese: Before he dies or retires, Pope Francis needs to make changes in the process of electing a new pope to avoid the possibility of a deadlocked conclave.

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Unsplash/Creative Commons/Channel 82)

Why is the church failing in the West?

Thomas Reese: There are numerous signs that the Catholic Church is failing in Western countries. There are few vocations, church attendance is down and young people are leaving the church in droves. Why?

After winning on abortion, it's time for Catholic bishops to switch parties

Thomas Reese: Except for ending abortion, the Republican Party has little to offer the bishops. The bishops got what they wanted out of this alliance; it is time to move on.

 

While focusing on Ukraine, don't forget the rest of the world

Thomas Reese: Ukraine deserves our attention, but it is one of many connected crises around the world. We won't have stopped it until we stop ignoring the rest.

Person putting gasoline into car with nozzle. (Unsplash/Engin Akyurt)

What is good for the planet is good for national security and economy

In the war to save our nation and the planet, we are not fighting back. We need to change our attitudes toward carbon-based fuels. We need to sacrifice for the common good.

"The Last Supper" mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci (RNS/Creative Commons/Wikipedia)

Holy Thursday is a Christian Passover, when we remember who we are

On Holy Thursday, the ceremony of the washing of feet symbolically expresses our willingness to imitate the loving service of Jesus, to imitate his willingness to forget his own fears and pain and to love and to forgive those who will desert him in his hour of need.

Ukrainian faithful hold their national flag as Pope Francis delivers the Angelus noon prayer from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Feb. 20. (AP/Gregorio Borgia)

Holy Week pain, Easter hope in Ukraine

Holy Week is a time when the Christian community shares Christ's pain on the cross, his betrayal and abandonment. Christ is being crucified again in Ukraine.

Jesuit Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a canon lawyer and former rector of Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, speaks at a news conference to present Pope Francis' document, "Praedicate Evangelium" ("Preach the Gospel"), for the reform of the Roman Curia

Pope Francis reforms the Vatican Curia. Here's hoping he's not done.

"The Roman Curia," the document states, "does not stand between the pope and the bishops, but rather places itself at the service of both in ways that are proper to the nature of each."

Palms burn at St. Clement School on Shrove Tuesday in Chicago March 1, 2022, during a prayer service for peace in the Ukraine. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic

Tips to get news junkies through a distracting Lent

Pope Francis has asked us to pray for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday, a day of mandatory fast and abstinence in the Catholic Church. I intend to expand that into a Lent of praying for peace, justice and ecological healing.

I forgive Pope Benedict. I hope others can too.

My difficulties with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger began after I became editor of America Magazine. Within a couple of years, Ratzinger, through the Jesuit superior general in Rome, was signaling his unhappiness with the magazine. 

Parents and residents stand to oppose the county's K-6 school mask mandate after public comment finished as more than 100 people pack the Harris Auditorium at a Genesee County Board of Commissioners meeting Aug. 30, 2021.

The good, the bad and the factual: Seeing American history through a biblical lens

Participants at contentious school board meetings about teaching history and mask mandates should take a lesson from Bible scholars: There are many voices with stories to share.

Pope Francis arrives for an audience for the annual exchange of Christmas greetings with members of the Roman Curia in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on Dec. 23, 2021. (RNS/Courtesy of Vatican Media)

Four things to look for in Francis' reform of curia

Thomas Reese: Ever since he was elected pope, Pope Francis has been trying to reform the Vatican Curia, the bureaucracy that is supposed to help the pope in his ministry to the universal church. He has had only limited success.

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