Joseph William Tobin

Joseph William Tobin was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 3, 1952, the oldest of the 13 children of Joseph W. Tobin and Marie Terese Kerwin. His parents were immigrants from County Kerry, Ireland. He was baptized five days after his birth at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Detroit, founded and administered by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists). He later attended the parochial school at the church.

By the time he had graduated, Tobin felt called to serve as a Catholic priest. He applied to join the Redemptorists, who accepted him as a candidate. He then attended St. Joseph's Preparatory College in Edgerton, Wisconsin, the Redemptorist minor seminary. After graduating from St. Joseph's in 1970, he was received into the Redemptorist novitiate to begin his formation as a member. Tobin made his temporary profession of religious vows as a member of the Redemptorists on August 5, 1972, and his perpetual vows on August 21, 1976.

In 1975, Tobin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Holy Redeemer College in Waterford, Wisconsin. He then studied at Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, New York, earning a Master of Religious Education degree in 1977 and a Master of Divinity degree in pastoral theology in 1979.

Political polarization

In June 2014, Tobin warned that the ideological polarization of American political life "helps to contribute to the balkanization of American Catholics into so-called right wing and left wing, or progressive and traditionalist, factions, who point fingers at each other". Speaking at a meeting of the College Theology Society, he said that:"In my opinion, finger pointing does a great harm to religious life because it makes us defensive... [and] we feel constantly compelled to defend ourselves against other parties in the church."