Thomas Michael Rosica,
C.S.B., (born March 3, 1959) in
Rochester, New York, is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
priest and a
Basilian Father. He is an author, speaker, and commentator. He was formerly
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation, English language media attaché of the
Holy See Press Office
The Holy See Press Office ( la, Sala Stampa Sanctae Sedis; it, Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, links=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/) publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the ...
, and president of
Assumption University in Windsor, Ontario, a Roman Catholic institution associated with the
University of Windsor
, mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge
, established =
, academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada
, former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963)
, type = Public universi ...
.
Education
Rosica has an undergraduate degree in French and Italian from
St. John Fisher College
St. John Fisher University is a private liberal arts college in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic cardinal and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022.
History
St. John Fisher Univers ...
, in
Pittsford, NY
Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census.
The Town of Pittsford (formerly part of the town of Northfield) was settled in 1789 and incorporated in 1796. Th ...
. 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
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, S ...
.
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. 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
St. Joseph Communications is a Canadian communications company based out of Toronto.
It is one of Canada's largest privately owned communications and media companies. The company currently has three divisions:
* The print business - SJC Print
* ...
,
Gaetano Gagliano
Gaetano Gagliano (; August 24, 1917 – April 14, 2016) was an Italian-born Canadian entrepreneur who founded St. Joseph Communications and Salt + Light Television.
Career and family
Gagliano was born in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, on August ...
, 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.
Vatican
Rosica served as the Vatican's English language spokesperson for the transition in the papacy during February and March, 2013 and as media advisor at the
Vatican for the
October 2018 Synod of Bishops.
Plagiarism and retracted publications
Since 2015, Rosica has regularly been accused of plagiarism in his publications, blog postings, and speeches. On February 17, 2015 Rosica issued a
cease and desist
A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not disc ...
letter against David Domet, of the Catholic blog ''Vox Cantoris'', accusing Domet of having made false and defamatory statements about Rosica.
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.
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."
Rosica explained that the legal firm, offering its service ''
pro bono
( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...
'' to him, had issued the letter on his behalf, and that he considered the matter "closed."
In February 2019, Rosica stepped down from the governing boards of
University of St. Michael's College
St Michael's College, officially the University of St. Michael's College, is a constituent college of the University of Toronto. It was founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil and retains its Catholic affiliation through its postgraduat ...
in Toronto,
St. John Fisher College
St. John Fisher University is a private liberal arts college in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic cardinal and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022.
History
St. John Fisher Univers ...
in New York and
University of St. Thomas in Houston following accusations of plagiarism.
In March 2019, Rosica went on sabbatical from the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation for "several months of rest and renewal." On June 17, 2019, the board of directors of Salt and Light accepted Rosica's resignation as CEO. 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". 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."
In 2020, Rosica's plagiarism was found to extend to text that he
ghostwrote for Cardinal
Marc Ouellet.
In 2022, new plagiarism accusations were brought against two new articles published in ''Il Sismografo'', a Vatican-based
news aggregator
In computing, a news aggregator, also termed a feed aggregator, feed reader, news reader, RSS reader or simply an aggregator, is client software or a web application that aggregates syndicated web content such as online newspapers, blogs, ...
.
Literature
* M.V. Dougherty and Joshua Hochschild: "Magisterial Authority and Theological Authorship: The Harm of Plagiarism in the Practice of Theology." ''Horizons'' 48 (2022), pp. 405-55. doi:10.1017/hor.2021.60.
References
External links
Official Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosica, Fr. Thomas
1959 births
Living people
21st-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests
Canadian television personalities
Canadian university and college chief executives
Congregation of St. Basil
Leaders of Christian parachurch organizations
Roman Catholic activists
People involved in scientific misconduct incidents
University of Toronto alumni
20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests