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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

Francis does not see holiness as a simple prospect

Signs of the Times: The pope acknowledges that living the Beatitudes means "going against the flow" of the world. Francis urges us to let the Lord's words "unsettle us, to challenge us and to demand a real change in the way we live."

Pope Francis warns of two paths to holiness

Signs of the Times: As a spiritual guide to those seeking to be better Christians, Pope Francis recognizes that many are tempted to follow the wrong paths to holiness. These are not bad people following the path of sin, but good people getting lost in the woods without a map.

Pope Francis, the spiritual guide

Before he was pope, before he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis spent much of his Jesuit life as a spiritual guide to young Jesuits. He was not a great theologian, although he was well read in theology. 

'I have made serious mistakes,' says pope. 'I ask forgiveness.'

The catchphrase "Love means never having to say you’re sorry" was more memorable than the film "Love Story," where it was uttered twice. At first the words sounded nice, but on reflection they made no sense at all, especially to a Christian.

The Vietnam War revisited

When PBS’ documentary “The Vietnam War” first broadcast back in September, I did not want to watch it. I had lived through the war and did not have the stomach to revisit it in a 10-part, 18-hour film, even if it was by award-winning documentarian Ken Burns.

Pope Francis and hell

Social media has been going crazy with reports that Pope Francis denied the existence of hell. Anyone who has followed the pope's talks and sermons would know that something does not smell right here. 

Young Catholics call for an authentic, empowering church

After a weeklong meeting in Rome with Pope Francis, young Catholics called for an authentic and empowering church where they would feel welcomed.

Letter from Benedict brings down Vatican media czar

VATICAN CITY — The ability of church officials to be their own worst enemies has been on display the past two weeks as the Vatican has been rocked by the scandalous handling of a letter from Pope Benedict about a series of books on the theology of Pope Francis.

When Pope Francis asks young people what they think

"Too often we talk about young people without asking what they think," said Pope Francis at the opening of a weeklong meeting with young people from all over the world.

Young people to talk with Pope Francis about future of the church

Signs of the Times: The young people coming to Rome are from this pool of loyal young Catholics, who have been chosen by their national bishops' conferences, religious communities and seminaries to meet with the pope. 

Updated: I did get arrested Tuesday

Washington -- Tuesday I am planning to get arrested on Capitol Hill at the National Catholic Day of Action with Dreamers. My arrest will be an expression of solidarity with “Dreamers” who face arrest and deportation if Congress or the president does not do something to protect their legal status.

People pray during morning Mass Jan. 30 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing. (CNS/EPA/Roman Pilipey)

With China, Vatican diplomats must make the best of a bad situation

Signs of the Times: The Vatican's job is to make martyrdom unnecessary wherever possible. This is why negotiations are conducted by diplomats, not saints or martyrs.

Cupich speaks: The church must learn from the faithful about married life

The Catholic Church needs to learn about married life from the faithful, said Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. He is saying this from theological conviction, not a desire to water down church teaching.

Spending Lent with Alexa

A Catholic priest should not have a woman in his bedroom at night, but Fr. Tom Reese says he has become quite dependent on Alexa.

Pope Francis' blind spot on sexual abuse

Column: He may be on the side of other marginalized peoples, but the overwhelming consensus in the media is that Pope Francis has a blind spot when it comes to sexual abuse.

Protecting the homeless in freezing weather

“Nobody died” is a headline you will rarely see, but as far as I can find out, no one died of hypothermia during the recent cold emergency in the nation's capital.

HHS Civil Rights Office to protect freedom of conscience

The Department of Health and Human Services announced that its Office of Civil Rights now has a division whose job is to protect the conscience rights of healthcare workers and hospitals.

Listening to God's word between Christmas and Lent

The beginning of the calendar year is a time for making resolutions, but in the Catholic liturgical year it is called "Ordinary Time" — a boring title for the part of the year that's not Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter.

Baby Jesus was a Dreamer in Egypt

I feel guilty that I have not written a column on "Dreamers," those children who were brought illegally into the United States by their parents. The reason I find it difficult to write such a column is that for me the whole idea of deporting Dreamers is so mean and unjust that I find it incomprehensible that anyone would want to do it.

Conservative Catholic dissidents attack Popes Francis and Benedict

Conservative Catholic dissidents, who have been attacking Pope Francis, showed their true colors recently by attacking retired Pope Benedict, calling his writings "subversive" and "modernist." That's right, they think Benedict is a heretic.

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