His Eminence, Joseph Cardinal Tobin

The son of the late Joseph W. Tobin and Marie Terese Kerwin, His Eminence, Joseph William Cardinal Tobin was born in Detroit. He graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep College, Edgerton, WI, and continued his education at Holy Redeemer College, Waterford, WI, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. He then attended Mount Saint Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, NY, earning masters degrees in Religious Education and Divinity. In 1973, Joseph Tobin professed vows as a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Redemptorists, finally being ordained to both the diaconate and the priesthood in 1978. Father Tobin then served several parishes in Detroit and in a number of assignments within the Archdiocese of Detroit. 

Within the Redemptorist Community, Father Tobin served as a Provincial Consultor from 1984 until 1990, as General Consultor of the Community in Rome from 1991 until 1997 and as Superior General of the Redemptorists in Rome from 1997 until 2009.

On August 9, 2010, His Holiness, 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 (CICLSA). On October 18, 2012, Pope Benedict appointed him to serve as the Sixth Archbishop of Indianapolis. His Holiness, Pope Francis, named him to the College of Cardinals on October 9, 2016 and he was created Cardinal on November 19, 2016.

Cardinal Tobin speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese, and reads several other languages. He has participated in five Synods of Bishops and has been a member of the Canon Law Society of America since 1985.  On November 7, 2016, His Holiness, Pope Francis named Joseph William Cardinal Tobin to serve as the Sixth Archbishop of Newark.