February 17, 2023

Papal biographer Greg Tobin to speak at Pittsfield parish on Feb. 26

REGIONAL
Staff report

This is the cover of The Good Pope: The Making of a Saint and the Remaking of the Church — The Story of John XXIII and Vatican II by Greg Tobin. (CNS) 

PITTSFIELD – Sacred Heart Parish will host “Sanctissimo: The life and legacy of Pope/ St. John XXIII,” a talk by Greg Tobin, papal succession expert and author or co-author of more 30 books, including biographies of both Pope John XXIII and Pope Benedict XVI. The presentation will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. in the church, located at 191 Elm St., here.

Tobin will discuss Pope John XXIII’s life and the meaning of his pontificate, focusing on the profound impacts that his convening of the Second Vatican Council and issuance of his encyclical “Pacem in Terris” had, and continue to have, on today’s church. 

Tobin currently serves as the president and publisher of RENEW International, a 45-year-old Catholic adult faith formation and publishing ministry, a nonprofit corporation located in the Archdiocese of Newark with offices in Plainfield, N.J.

Tobin is the former chief executive of a global nonprofit publishing and services organization, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. He served as vice president for university advancement of Seton Hall and led the university’s fundraising, alumni relations, public relations and marketing departments, as well as working for two presidents as their senior communications officer.

He received his master’s degree in theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology in 2006 and was awarded the Pope John Paul II Medal for Academic Excellence.

Tobin was editor of The Catholic Advocate, the Catholic Press Association award-winning archdiocesan newspaper of the Archdiocese of Newark. He was awarded the Jubilee Medal Pro Meritis from the archbishop in 2002. Prior to that, he had a distinguished 25-year career as an editor and publishing executive in the book publishing industry in New York City, including positions as editor in chief of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc., editor in chief of Random House’s Ballantine Books division, and associate publisher of Bantam Books and Doubleday.

He is the author, co-author and ghostwriter of more than 30 books, most recently The Good Pope (a biography of Saint John XXIII), and has published numerous other books, including Selecting the Pope, Holy Father (a biography of Pope Benedict XVI), and Religion in America (as co-general editor).

Greg Tobin (iObserve photo/Permission of RENEW International 2023)

In addition, he has written two acclaimed novels of the Catholic Church, Conclave and Council, and is currently working on a new epic-length novel and a chronicle of the first century of Alcoholics Anonymous. He has published widely as a journalist, including occasional book reviews in The New York Times Book Review.

Tobin is a graduate of Yale University, lives with his family in West Orange, N.J., and is an active parishioner at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in South Orange and a Knight of Columbus.