Pope Benedict XVI named Redemptorist Fr. Joseph Tobin as the new secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, colloquially known as the "Congregation for Religious." It’s the office with lead responsibility for some 190,000 religious priests and brothers, and roughly 750,000 sisters, worldwide. Tobin is the Superior General of the Redemptorists from 1997 to 2009 and becomes an archbishop by virtue of the appointment. As someone who has been influenced by Redemptorists growing up, I know that they are terrific priests that become very involved in the community life of the parishes they serve. This is a wonderful accomplishment for the order. Fr. Tobin was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 3. 1952. He is the oldest of 13 children of Joseph (deceased) and Marie Terese Tobin. Tobin was baptized at and attended a Redemptorist Parish, Holy Redeemer Church, and entered the Redemptorist minor seminary in the autumn of 1966. He entered novitiate in July 1972 and on August 5, 1973 he made his first profession. He completed his philosophy studies at Holy Redeemer College, Waterford, Wisconsin and theology studies at Mt. St. Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, NY, earning Masters Degrees in Religious Education and Divinity. Tobin made his perpetual profession on August 21, 1976 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 1, 1978. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (Congregatio pro Institutis Vitae Consecratae et Societatibus Vitae Apostolicae; CIVCSVA) is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for everything that concerns institutes of consecrated life (orders and religious congregations, both of men and of women, secular institutes) and Societies of Apòstolic Life regarding their government, discipline, studies, goods, rights, and privileges.
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...
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