Joseph William Tobin (born May 3, 1952) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. A member of the Redemptorist order, he has been the Archbishop of Newark since 2017. He previously served as the Archbishop of Indianapolis from 2012 to 2016 and as secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life from 2010 to 2012. He has been a cardinal since November 19, 2016.
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.
Tobin was ordained a priest for the Redemptorist Order by Archbishop William Cousins at Holy Redeemer College on June 1, 1978. The following year, Tobin returned to Detroit, where he was appointed the parochial vicar of Holy Redeemer Parish. He was later named pastor there, serving from 1984 to 1990. From 1980 to 1986, he served as an episcopal vicar for the Archdiocese of Detroit, and also assisted at the local diocesan marriage tribunal. From 1990 to 1991, Tobin served as pastor of St. Alphonsus Parish in Chicago, Illinois.
The Redemptorists elected Tobin as their general consultor in 1991 and as their superior general in 1997 He began a second term as superior general in 2003. That same year, he was named vice-president of the Union of Superiors General. Tobin also served as a member of the Council for Relations between the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the International Union of Superiors General from 2001 to 2009.
In 2005, Tobin participated in a synod of bishops in Rome. He spent a week in a Spanish-language discussion group that included Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, the future Pope Francis.
Tobin took a sabbatical to Blackfriars Hall Priory in Oxford, England in 2010, residing with the De La Salle Brothers. While there, he pursued his interest in the rise of secularization and secular culture, attending seminars by anthropologist Peter B. Clarke, studying at the Las Casas Institute and taking classes at Blackfriars. Tobin speaks English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
In May 2009, the Vatican named Tobin to oversee the professed men's element of the 2010 Apostolic Visitation of the Church in Ireland. On August 2, 2010, Tobin was appointed secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL) and titular archbishop of Obba. Tobin became the second American cleric to head CICLSAL.Tobin learned of his appointment two weeks before the Vatican announced it. He recalled:I was painting my mom's house in Ontario when the phone rang. The voice on the other end said it was Cardinal Bertone, and my first thought was that it was a prank, … you know, I thought maybe it was one of the Redemptorists fooling around. Quickly, though, I realized that it really was Bertone, and he said that the Holy Father wants you to do this. My first reaction was to tell him that off the top of my head, I could give him the names of five people much more qualified to do this job than I am. I was completely serious about it. But Cardinal Bertone said no, this is what the Holy Father wants. He said I could take a week to ten days to think about it, so I talked to my superiors, my closest friends in religious life, and my spiritual director.
Tobin received his episcopal consecration in Rome on October 9, 2010. He had said:
[My] hope is that the Vatican's relationship with the local churches can be a sort of creative tension. I think life without tension would be very boring and useless. We can't walk, we can't talk, we can't sing without tension. You need to have tension in your vocal chords and your back, let alone a guitar. However, tension can be destructive. The challenge is to recognise the diversity of gifts and the plurality of churches and the one spirit that unites us. And I think that is the adventure of a lifetime.
When Tobin arrived at CICLSAL, it was already conducting a visitation—a critical inspection of ministries and organization—of the 341 institutes of apostolic women religious in the United States. At the same time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) was conducting a doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), focused on its theological orthodoxy.
In December 2010, Tobin said that the Vatican needed to acknowledge the "depth of anger and hurt" among the nuns that was provoked by the CDF visitation, saying it illustrated the need for a "strategy of reconciliation" with women religious. The CDF issued its report on the LCWR in April 2012; Tobin was reportedly unhappy with the report content and the failure of the CDF to consult him before releasing it.
On October 18, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Tobin as archbishop of Indianapolis, a Catholic community of 246,000. He was installed on December 3, 2012. His reassignment from the Curia had been rumored since Tobin expressed his unhappiness with the CDF's highly critical report on the LCWR in April 2012.
In May 2016, the Vatican named Tobin to oversee the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a religious community that a Vatican review had found in need of thorough-going reform.
On October 9, 2016, Francis announced that he would make Tobin a cardinal in a papal consistory on November 19, 2016. On that day, Tobin became a Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria delle Grazie a Via Trionfale. Francis named Tobin a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture on November 11, 2019, a member of the Congregation for Bishops on March 4, 2021 and a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura on June 21, 2021.
Tobin participated in the 2025 papal conclave, and was even considered papabile by a few sources, namely The New York Times. The National Catholic Reporter ran an article highlighting Tobin as a serious candidate, namely due to his charitable works as a Redemptorist, his support for Francis' agenda, and his vocal opposition to Donald Trump. However, all sources noted that there is a longstanding taboo within the church to elect a pope from the dominant global power. Regardless, Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost would be elected the first ever American-born pope; Leo XIV, although he had largely lived in Peru and Rome since 1983.
On November 7, 2016, Francis named Tobin as archbishop of Newark, a city which had, like Indianapolis, never before been headed by a cardinal. He was installed there on January 6, 2017.