Thomas Rosica

Thomas Michael Rosica, C.S.B., (born March 3, 1959) in Rochester, New York, is a Roman Catholic priest and a Basilian Father. He is an author,[1] speaker,[2] and commentator.[3] He was formerly Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation, English language media attaché of the Holy See Press Office,[4] and president of Assumption University in Windsor, Ontario, a Roman Catholic institution associated with the University of Windsor.[5]

Father

Thomas Michael Rosica

C.S.B.
ChurchCatholic, Latin Church
Orders
Ordination19 April 1986
Personal details
Born (1959-03-03) 3 March 1959
Rochester, New York, US
OccupationCatholic priest
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Alma mater

Education

Rosica has an undergraduate degree in French and Italian from St. John Fisher College, in Pittsford, NY. He entered the Congregation of St. Basil as a novice and studied theology and sacred scripture at Regis College in Toronto. He continued his studies in theology and scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and then École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem.[6]

World Youth Day 2002 and Salt + Light Television

Rosica was appointed by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops as the National Director and Chief Executive Officer of the 17th World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.[7][8] The theme of the World Youth Day was "You are the salt of the earth... you are the light of the world." Shortly after the World Youth Day, Thomas Rosica was approached by the founder of St. Joseph Communications, Gaetano Gagliano, to run a religious television network. The new television station was named "Salt + Light Television" after the theme of the World Youth Day 2002 and began its broadcast on July 1, 2003 with only two employees.[9]

Vatican

Rosica served as the Vatican's English language spokesperson for the transition in the papacy during February and March, 2013[10] and as media advisor at the Vatican for the October 2018 Synod of Bishops.[11]

Accusations of plagiarism

On February 17, 2015 Rosica issued a cease and desist letter against David Domet, of the Catholic blog "Vox Cantoris", accusing Domet of having made false and defamatory statements about Rosica.[12] The document from Folger, Rubinoff LLP, demanded that nine statements, made by Domet, be retracted from the blog with a public apology made to Rosica.[12]

On March 4, 2015 Rosica announced in his blog that his intention was not to sue Domet, but to make him "cease and desist the frivolous calumny."[12] Rosica explained that the legal firm, offering its service pro bono to him, had issued the letter on his behalf, and that he considered the matter "closed."[13]

In February 2019, Rosica stepped down from the governing boards of University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, St. John Fisher College in New York and University of St. Thomas in Houston following accusations of plagiarism.[14] In March 2019, Rosica went on sabbatical from the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation for "several months of rest and renewal."[15] On June 17, 2019, the board of directors of Salt and Light accepted Rosica's resignation as CEO.[16] On June 21, 2019, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that it retracted Rosica's works published by the CCCB because the works "failed to provide all the appropriate citations, as well as bibliographic references, and did not acknowledge a number of original sources".[17] Rosica said, "I realize that I was not prudent nor vigilant with several of the texts that have surfaced and I will be very vigilant with future texts and compositions. I take full responsibility for my lack of oversight and do not place the blame on anyone else but myself."[14]

In 2020, Rosica's plagiarism was found to extend to text that he ghostwrote for Cardinal Marc Ouellet.[18]

References
  1. "CCCB Publications". Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Publications. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2019 – via esubmitit.sjpg.com.
  2. "New York Catholics to Celebrate World Communications Day". desalesmedia.org (Press release). DeSales Media Group. 25 April 2016. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  3. Dueck, Lorna (25 September 2015). "Stephen Colbert: This Catholic superstar knows how to live his faith". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016 – via www.theglobeandmail.com.
  4. Atik, Tamar (31 March 2013). "Toronto's man at the Vatican: Father Thomas Rosica". The Toronto Observer. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016 – via torontoobserver.ca.
  5. Caton, Mary (8 March 2019). "Assumption University to review Rosica's published works". Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019 – via windsorstar.com.
  6. Salai, Sean (28 July 2014). "The Future of Catholic Media: An Interview with Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B." America. America Media. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016 – via americamagazine.org.
  7. Meagher, Anthony G. (19 August 2000). "World Youth Day 2002 in Canada: Comment by the President of the Catholic WYD 2002 Council". www.cccb.ca. Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  8. Wiesner, Gerald (11 October 2000). "Report of the President: 2000 Plenary Meeting". www.cccb.ca. Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  9. Csillag, Ron (24 February 2011). "Let there be (Salt +) Light". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016 – via thestar.com.
  10. Atik, Tamar (31 March 2013). "Toronto's man at the Vatican: Father Thomas Rosica". The Toronto Observer. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016 – via torontoobserver.ca.
  11. "Rev. Thomas Rosica Earns New Vatican Appointment". www.sjfc.edu (Press release). St. John Fisher College. 24 September 2018. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  12. San Martín, Inés (4 March 2015). "Priest who does Vatican PR says he won't sue conservative blogger". Crux. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018 – via cruxnow.com.
  13. Rosica, Thomas (4 March 2015). "A Message from Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB". saltandlighttv.org. Salt + Light Television. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  14. Conlon, Mickey (25 February 2019). "Fr. Rosica resigns from St. Mike's following plagiarism revelations". The Catholic Register. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  15. "Statement of the Board of Directors Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation". saltandlighttv.org. Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  16. "Statement of the Board of Directors of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation". saltandlighttv.org. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  17. "Notice of Retraction". Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (Press release). 21 June 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019 – via www.cccb.ca.
  18. "Toronto priest plagiarized when ghostwriting for Canada's most senior Vatican figure: new book". National Post. 27 August 2020.
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