Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz has made the following appointment, effective June 17, 2020:

Reverend T. Michael Tobin will be pastor of St. Rita and St. Luke Parishes, Louisville, Kentucky. These appointments will coincide with the termination of his responsibilities at Church of the Annunciation (Shelbyville) and St. John Chrysostom Parish (Eminence).  Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. has also named Fr. Tobin as Vicar for Hispanic Ministry. This appointment is effective June 17, 2020.

Father Tobin, born in Sacramento, California, studied at the University of Louisville, and The American College Seminary, Louvain, Belgium. He was ordained on August 7, 1993. He completed post-graduate studies by earning a JCB in Canon Law, Catholic University of Louvain, 1993; Master’s Degree in Religious Studies, Louvain, 1992; Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL), Louvain, 1994: Dogmatic Theology, Christology, and Protestant Theology. Fr. Tobin served in the US Army Reserve Chaplain Candidate’s Program and received an honorable discharge in July 1998 as a 1st Lieutenant.

Since ordination, Fr. Tobin has been assigned to the following parishes: Pastor of Church of the Annunciation (Shelbyville) and St. John Chrysostom Church (Eminence), Our Lady of Mercy Church (Hodgenville) and St. Ann Church (Howardstown), and, St. Aloysius Church (Shepherdsville) and St. Benedict Church (Lebanon Junction); and, as an Associate Pastor of Church of the Annunciation, St. Benedict, St. Pius X Church, St. Augustine Church (Lebanon), and St. Margaret Mary Church. During his time at Our Lady of Mercy and St. Ann, Fr. Tobin founded the Hispanic ministry in LaRue and Hardin County at Our Lady of Mercy and St. James (Elizabethtown). In between, he spent one year, as associate pastor in Shelbyville to serve a bilingual community before starting one in LaRue County and eventually Hardin. Fr. Tobin has also served the Archdiocese of Louisville as a Judge for the Metropolitan Tribunal.

Fr. Tobin completed the Mini-Pastoral Program, MACC (Mexican American Cultural Center), San Antonio, Texas, 2000; Immersion Program, Cirimex (Center for International Resources), Guadalajara, Mexico, 2001; and, Intensive Pastoral Spanish (Intermediate plus), MACC, 2002. Fr. Tobin has led Pastoral Mission Trips to Vera Cruz, Mexico, 2007 & 2009; and, to San Blas, Puerto Rico, 2010. He has been a Retreat Master: Lenten Retreat, Ursuline Sisters and Residents, Marion Home, 2008; and, Advent Retreat, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and Residents, Nazareth Home, Newburg Road, 2008 & 2009. He led a mission trip to Guatemalan parishes and pilgrimage to San Salvador, El Salvador, the chapel of martyrdom of Saint Oscar Romero, 2013. Fr. Tobin completed a sabbatical, summer-autumn 2015: Immersion at San Pio Décimo Parroquia in León, Mexico followed by pilgrimage to Fatima, Santiago de Compostela, Avila, Lourdes and then Mallorca for the hometown celebration of sainthood for Junipero Serra.  He attended the Institute for Continuing Education at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, autumn 2015. Most recently, Fr. Tobin served as Delegate of the Archdiocese at the Fifth National Encuentro sponsored by the Bishops at Provincial, Regional and National Levels, 2019-2020.  Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. has also named Fr. Tobin as Vicar for Hispanic Ministry. This appointment is effective June 17, 2020.