Fr. Thomas V. Berg, Ph.D.
Visiting Professor of the Practice
436 Geddes Hall
tberg2@nd.edu
Fr. Thomas V. Berg, Ph.D., a visiting professor of the practice at the McGrath Institute for Church Life, pursued his B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature at Marquette University (1983-86). He received an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University in 1997, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Rome’s Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in 1999. A priest of the Archdiocese of New York, Fr. Tom served for thirteen years as professor of moral theology and a formation advisor at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, NY. He also served ten of those years as director of seminarian admissions. In addition to his scholarly work in bioethics and moral theology, he has been a frequent public commentator on issues relating to the Catholic Church. He has published or been quoted in the National Catholic Register, First Things, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and most recently in Church Life Journal.
In 2017, he authored his first book titled Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics.The premise for his book is that far too many Catholics have had painful experiences in the Church, and many have simply opted to walk away. Fr. Tom opens his book with the story of the painful and life-changing crisis he experienced in the Church that ultimately, against the odds, led him to love the Church more intensely. Along with his own story, Fr. Tom intertwines the stories of other Catholics who have themselves experienced life-changing hurts, but who, in Jesus, found healing. He extends an urgent invitation to all Catholics to heed Pope Francis’s call to incite a “revolution of tenderness” in our faith communities.
In the past several years, he has personally accompanied a number of survivors of abuse on their journey to healing, and has been a sought-after speaker on the clergy sexual abuse crisis and the renewal of Catholic seminary formation. With Justin Anderson and Timothy Lock, Fr. Tom recently co-authored “Fully Equipped for Every Good Work: A Proposal of Twelve Core Competencies in Ministering to Survivors of Sexual Abuse for Seminary Formation Programs.” His most recent book, Choosing Forgiveness: Unleash the Power of God’s Grace presented him with the opportunity to research the application of practices of restorative justice to the Church’s sexual abuse crisis. He has been a participant in two national restorative justice consultations, and is a founding member of the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative.