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

Six suggestions for the Catholic bishops' document on the Eucharist

In Afghanistan, we made the same mistakes as in Vietnam

The climate apocalypse is real, and it is coming

COVID-19, global warming and diminishing Catholic guilt

Even a pope needs a medical directive

The Latin Mass is not going away soon

Indictments for Vatican financial crimes a sign of progress

Democrats should support increasing the gas tax

In Central America, Kamala Harris ignored our best hope: Catholic bishops

Baptist and Catholic leaders grapple with similar problems in different ways

As Catholic bishops' Communion war roils June meeting, look what's not on the agenda

Reforming the Vatican Curia: Never easy, and never over

4 reasons behind the Vatican's action on Communion for pro-choice politicians

Solar panels allow religious institutions to do well while doing good

Democrats defend a tax boon for rich homeowners

The Biden Communion stories are stupid

We need more from Catholic bishops than a mixed response to racism

Why President Biden is right to get our troops out of Afghanistan

Ideas for the future of Catholic liturgical reform

Visitation of Vatican liturgy office could lead to liturgical reform

Advertisement