Thomas John Rodi

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Thomas John Rodi" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Styles of Thomas John Rodi
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Archbishop

Thomas John Rodi (born March 27, 1949) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mobile in Alabama since 2008, having previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi in Mississippi from 2001 to 2008.^[1]

Thomas Rodi was born on March 27, 1949, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from De La Salle High School in New Orleans in 1967. He then attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971. Upon his return to New Orleans, Rodi earned a Juris Doctor degree from Tulane University Law School. He then entered Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, receiving his Master of Divinity degree in 1978.^[2]

Rodi was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Archbishop Philip Hannan on May 20, 1978. Rodi then served as associate pastor at St. Ann Parish in Metairie, Louisiana and at St. Christopher the Martyr Parish in Jefferson, Louisiana.

Rodi became a judge for the metropolitan tribunal in 1983, and earned his Licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America School of Canon Law in Washington, D.C. in 1986. Rodi then taught canon law at Notre Dame Seminary until 1995. He also served as director of the Office of Religious Education from 1988 to 1989, and of the Department of Pastoral Services from 1989 to 1996. In addition to his other duties, he was named chancellor (1992) and vicar general and curial moderator (1996) of the archdiocese. Rodi was raised by the Vatican to the rank of honorary prelate in 1992. He served in the following Louisiana parishes:

• Administrator of St. Matthew the Apostle in River Ridge
• Pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary in New Orleans
• Pastor of St. Pius X in New Orleans
• Pastor of St. Rita in New Orleans

On May 15, 2001, Rodi was appointed as the second bishop of Biloxi by Pope John Paul II. Rodi received his episcopal consecration on July 2. 2001. from Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb, with Archbishop Francis Schulte and Bishop Joseph Howze serving as co-consecrators. Rodi selected as his episcopal motto: Caritas Christi Urget Nos 2 Cor 5:14, meaning, "The love of Christ compels us."

Pope Benedict XVI named Rodi as the second archbishop of Mobile on April 2, 2008, replacing Bishop Oscar Lipscomb. Rodi was formally installed as archbishop on June 6 2008.

During his tenure as archbishop, Rodi served as chair of Cross Catholic Outreach, a relief agency, for nearly a decade.^[3]

Parishioners at St. Paul Catholic Church in Pass Christian, Alabama, filed a lawsuit in 2009 against Rodi, Reverend Dennis Carver and the Diocese of Biloxi. Rodi had closed St. Paul in 2005 after it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The plaintiffs claimed that Rodi and Carver deceived them by saying their donations would be used to rebuild St. Paul, knowing that the diocese probably planned to close it.^[4] The Mississippi Supreme Court rule in favor of the diocese, which in 2010 announced plans to demolish St. Paul. The diocese said that it would use the donations to build a small chapel in the parish.^[5]

In September 2023, over 1,000 people signed a petition asking for answers about the relationship between Reverend Alex Crow and Taylor Victoria Harrison, a student at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile. In July 2023, Crow and Harrison, now 18 years old, left for Italy. The petition demanded that Rodi, Reverend Bry Shields, and Michelle Haas, the high school principal, all resign their positions. Rodi made the following statement:

"We received reports about Alex Crow’s behavior with the young woman in question on a trip in June following her graduation and shortly before their departure. But these reports did not allege sexual misconduct, and the Office of Child Protection opened a file to begin investigating these reports."^[6]

Crow and Harrison were married in Alabama in November 2023 and he was laicized by the Vatican in January 2024.^[7]

Rodi submitted his letter of retirement to Pope Francis in March 2024. Bishops are required to submit their retirement to the pope upon turning 75 years old.^[8] Land records indicated that Rodi was building a home near Christ the King Parish in Daphne, Alabama. A spokesman for the archdiocese stated in 2023 that "Plans for his [Rodi's] retirement will not be finalized until the pope makes his decision."^[9]

Regarding the 2021 inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, Rodi said,

"It is also the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of the first Catholic president, President Kennedy, it was 60 years today. So by coincidence, it is very meaningful we have the second time a man who professes to be Catholic be inaugurated as president."^[10]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Thomas John Rodi.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas John Rodi.

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile Official Site Archived 2020-09-22 at the Wayback Machine