Following the retirement of Most Reverend Robert E. Mulvee, D.D., J.C.D., in 2005, after 10 years as diocesan shepherd, Most Reverend Thomas Joseph Tobin, D.D., was installed as the eighth bishop of Providence on May 31, 2005, the Solemnity of the Visitation, at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul.
Over the course of his 18-year episcopacy, Bishop Tobin expanded diocesan outreach ministries, continuing to provide life-affirming support to those living on the margins of society.
One of his most extraordinary achievements as shepherd was presiding over a $50 million diocesan capital campaign. Grateful for God’s Providence was launched in 2018, as the diocese looked ahead to its 150th anniversary in 2022, with a goal of collecting $50 million to strengthen parishes and support diocesan ministries through endowments.
Despite a crippling pandemic at its midpoint, and the significant financial challenges it wrought upon the world, the campaign surpassed its goal, receiving nearly $55 million in pledges.
Bishop Tobin presided over several significant capital projects, including a $14 million restoration of the cathedral’s bell towers and roof, the addition of a new, Italian marble cathedra, and the construction of a $12 million addition to the St. Ann Cemetery in Cranston.
In 2021, he dedicated the SS. Peter and Paul Mausoleum on the cemetery grounds. With its twin 50-foot-high towers, the 22,000 square-foot-mausoleum bears a resemblance to the diocesan cathedral. It was needed to provide additional interior and exterior burial space.
Bishop Tobin also approved the $4 million renovation of McVinney Auditorium, converting the shuttered hall at the chancery office building into a state-of-the-art venue for concerts and community events.
As publisher of the venerable diocesan newspaper, Bishop Tobin rebranded the then-130-year-old Providence Visitor into The Rhode Island Catholic.
On the lighter side, Bishop Tobin was well-known for taking exceptional pride in being a lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He often invoked his hometown football team when jokingly chiding locals in Providence about their affinity for the New England Patriots.
In his installation homily, Bishop Tobin said that despite the musings of prophets of doom and gloom on matters of the Church, he preferred to take a more positive assessment, without being naïve to the enormous challenges the Church faces.
“I believe that in the Church, there is much more good than bad; that the Church makes wonderful contributions to our community every day, providing valuable services to members and non-members alike; and that the Church continues to be guided by the Holy Spirit, in this age as in every age. In short, if our faith is strong, then hope must prevail,” he said.
He also offered a prescient reminder that Christians are called to act on their beliefs, even though that path may prove difficult.
“Disciples of Christ do not remain within the safe confines of the Church solely for the sake of their own salvation,” he said.
During the next 18 years, Bishop Tobin would faithfully govern the local Church in the spirit of his motto — which consisted of three virtues found in St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy: “Strong, Loving, Wise.”
Throughout his episcopacy, Bishop Tobin would develop a national profile for his strong beliefs, especially for speaking out against abortion and same-sex marriage, and challenging all self-professed Catholic politicians to follow the Church’s teaching in these areas.
Bishop Tobin maintained great pride in the fact that the Diocese of Providence was the second largest employer in Rhode Island — topped only by the state government itself — and in all the good works the local Church was doing to help those in need, especially the poor and the homeless.
Under the bishop’s leadership, the Office of Life and Family Ministry, through its St. Gabriel’s Call program, continually provided supplies, including baby formula and diapers to expectant mothers in desperate need.
As a staunch defender of life in all its stages, Bishop Tobin received several prestigious honors including the Defender of the Faith Award from Legatus, the Proudly Pro-Life Award from the National Right to Life Committee and the Cardinal von Galen Award from Human Life International.
In 2005, Bishop Tobin instituted Keep the Heat On, a fuel assistance program of last resort to aid Rhode Islanders in financial need in paying their heating bills. By the end of 2023, Keep the Heat On, in its 18th season, had provided more than $4 million in aid to assist hundreds of households in keeping their furnaces running against the cold New England winters.
Responding to the need for additional emergency shelters for the homeless, Bishop Tobin, in 2010, opened Emmanuel House in a former diocesan day care center in South Providence. The shelter grew to provide a safe place to sleep for 150 people each night, while providing guests with a warm dinner, case management and job search assistance.
Bishop Tobin, working with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was also instrumental in providing housing and other support to hundreds of refugees from around the world.
Additionally, he fought to protect the rights of the state’s large and faithful Hispanic community, which is composed of many migrants from Central America and beyond.
In 2008, Bishop Tobin and 15 pastors who served the local immigrant community signed and sent a letter to the director of the Bureau of Customs Enforcement in Boston urging for a moratorium on immigration raids until the federal government could implement a comprehensive and just reform of the nation’s immigration laws.
A native of Perryville, Pennsylvania, a suburb in the North Hills section of Pittsburgh, Bishop Tobin was born on April 1, 1948, the youngest child of the late Mary and Raymond Tobin.
Growing up, he attended St. Teresa of Avila Parish and School, serving as an altar server and participating in Little League and the Boy Scouts. His sister, Marjorie Kreutzer, previously told The Rhode Island Catholic that the strong faith of their parents, along with a solid Catholic upbringing fostered her brother’s vocation when he began to show inclinations toward the priesthood at a young age.
Bishop Tobin paid homage to his mother in one of the most popular columns he penned for his diocesan newspaper: “My Mother’s Christmas Cookies,” which would rerun each December to the delight of readers who found the tribute to his mother, complete with a photo of her baking in the kitchen, very touching.
Bishop Tobin began his seminary studies at Saint Mark Seminary High School, Erie, and went on to Gannon University in Erie and St. Francis University in Loretto from which he graduated in 1969. He continued his seminary formation in Rome at the Pontifical North American College, studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He also pursued graduate studies at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of San Anselmo in Rome.
He was ordained a priest by Bishop Vincent M. Leonard on July 21, 1973, and soon after served as an assistant pastor at various parishes in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He was named administrative secretary to the former bishop of Pittsburgh and in 1990 became vicar general and general secretary.
Bishop Tobin was named auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh and titular bishop of Novica by Pope John Paul II on November 3, 1992, whom he soon after had the great privilege to meet at the Vatican. The Pope personally imposed the pectoral cross, the cross worn by a bishop, upon the bishop-designate, who was ordained to the episcopacy on December 27, 1992.
On Feb. 2, 1996, Bishop Tobin was installed as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, in St. Columba Cathedral.
On March 31, 2005, Pope John Paul II named Bishop Tobin the eighth bishop of Providence. He was now-St. John Paul II’s final episcopal appointment.
Bishop Tobin served as shepherd for 18 years, until his retirement on May 1, 2023. He was succeeded by Bishop Richard G. Henning, D.D., S.T.D, who had served as coadjutor bishop since January 26, 2023.
