Can Joe Tobin from Detroit, now a NJ cardinal, become the first American pope?

Since the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, his successors have made history. John Paul II is the first Pope from Poland. Benedict XVI is the first German pope in 1,000 years. And Pope Francis, though Italian, is the first Pope from South America and Argentina.

Is the Catholic Church ready for a pope from the United States? And, if so, who’s the odds-on favorite to be elected? Could it be Joseph Cardinal Tobin, Archbishop of Newark?

Most cardinals are super smart, polylingual and have some sort of Vatican portfolio. Tobin meets all those requisites with one major distinction. He knows the global church more intimately than almost any other cardinal who would be in the running. That’s because he rose to become the Superior General of the Redemptorists, his religious order, at the age of 45. He then traveled the world multiple times visiting his 6,000 confreres in more than 70 countries during his 12-year tenure.

A rise through the ranks

Tobin’s stellar clerical career began not long after his priestly ordination in 1979, when he returned to his home parish, Holy Redeemer Church in Detroit. Within a few years, this promising young priest became the pastor. Then, Tobin became the young vicar of the Archbishop of Detroit, Edward Cardinal Szoka. In 1990, he moved to Chicago as pastor of St. Alphonsus Parish and, the next year, was elected general consultor in the Redemptorists.

When he led the Redemptorists, “he helped to build relationships among all the provinces,” said the Rev. Philip Dabney, a priest classmate of Tobin's who works at a Redemptorist retreat house in Washington, D.C. Dabney oversaw a restructuring of the religious order.

“He also knows how to blend into the moment,” said Dabney, explaining that Tobin put an emphasis on youth and vocations.

Among his personal qualities is that he is a patient listener, Dabney said.

“When you talk to him, he listens intently,” said Dabney, “as if you’re the only one who matters. ... He never criticized anybody, and is always so kind.”

But none of Tobin's strengths may matter if being from the U.S. is an albatross for any papabile — or candidate for the papcy.

Can an American be pope?

Some church scholars doubt that an American can become pope.

“At this time, not sure the World Church trusts a Cardinal shaped by contemporary American culture,” said the Rev. Anthony Randazzo, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Westfield, New Jersey.

Randazzo is also a systematic theologian with an advanced degree from the University of Leuven, a Catholic university in Belgium, and former seminary professor.

“The political and religious polarization (in the U.S.) is too loud to psychologically cultivate a Pontifex, a bridge builder,” he said. “In order for an American Cardinal to become pope, a Dalai Lama like compassionate, wise man would need to arise,” said Randazzo. “An international churchman/ CEO is not needed for a future papacy.”

Dr. Christopher Bellitto, professor of history at Kean University, agrees.

“The American Church is so incredibly broken,” Bellitto said.

He also thinks the U.S. is too young as a country compared to other countries in the world even though it is so influential. Bellitto teaches courses in ancient and medieval history and is a specialist in the Middle Ages, church history and reform, and is the author of 10 books and more than 30 articles.

He did admit, though, that there are American cardinals who could rise to the papacy if they were not from the U.S. Could Tobin be one of them and break the curse?

The Rev. James Keenan, a Jesuit priest, thinks so.

“Tobin knows Rome and you want someone who has familiarity with Rome,” he said.

Keenan is one of the most respected moral theologians in the world and is vice provost for global engagement for Boston College. He also noted how Tobin was a leader among the Major Superiors of Men and has “enormous respectability with women.”

“Tobin certainly suits Rome and stands a chance [to become pope],” Keenan told me.

A people person's prelate

Examining Tobin's rise in the hierarchy reveals insights to his many strengths and how he handles controversies. He’s a company man — but don’t expect him to blindly conform. Pope Benedict XVI found that out soon after he made him a bishop in 2010.

Redemptorists priests tell the story that Pope Benedict XVI allegedly told his top aide that he wanted Tobin to become a bishop the first time he met him. Tobin became secretary to the Congregation for Religious at a time when women religious in the U.S. were being investigated by the Vatican for being too liberal. Tobin bucked the Vatican and stood up for the U.S. nuns. Fate made that inevitable since he is the oldest of 13 and has eight sisters. Higher-ups in the Vatican engineered his Siberian appointment to become the Archbishop of Indianapolis to get him out of Rome.

He took Indianapolis by storm and was loved by the pastors, priests and people, who did not want him to leave in 2016 when he was named the first cardinal ever to become Archbishop of Newark. His predecessor, John Myers, was a brilliant ideologue who did not know how to relate to his flock. Tobin became the shepherd who had as Pope Francis said, “the smell of his sheep.”

In other words, he’s a people person’s prelate.

In his first year, Tobin visited each deanery — a group of parishes in a region — dined with the priests, presided at Mass for the people and held a town hall.  Along with him came some of his top chancery aides so they could also listen and take notes.  After visiting all 29 deaneries comprising 211 parishes, he was ready to reorganize the College of Deans, his local vicars, the priests’ council and convene a pastoral council of laypeople. Tobin is big on consultation, sometimes too much. He practices what Francis refers to as synodality. That is, the process of listening and sharing so all people can become stakeholders in the church. The global church is in the midst of a four-year process that will culminate in a big Vatican conference in 2024 where Francis might make some big decisions about the church’s future.

Tobin serves on eight Vatican curia departments or dicasteries including the powerful one that vets bishops, who can put forth Francis’ agenda. He is definitely in Francis’ corner and can articulate that vision of church unlike few other cardinals. Tobin is a true conservative in the best sense of the word — but is also open to new ideas to help shape the church of the future.  For example, he has welcomed LGBTQ Catholics to his Newark cathedral for a historic Mass and greenlighted outreach groups among a handful of parishes.

Another classmate, the Rev. Peter Sousa, now a pastor in South Carolina, called Tobin “extremely brilliant.”  He could remember things with such ease.

“He was very much a Renaissance man but down to earth,” Sousa said of Tobin, recalling that Tobin played football, was, like his father, also named Joseph, played the piano and also liked to fix cars when he was in the seminary.

Dabney said Tobin was unassuming and never stole the spotlight. He stayed in the background, Dabney said.

“He was not someone to pontificate," he added.

That would change if Joe Tobin from Detroit, the first cardinal ever to reside in New Jersey became the first Pope from the U.S.

The Very Rev. Alexander M. Santora is the pastor of The Church of Our Lady of Grace & St. Joseph in Hoboken, New Jersey and Dean of the area’s Catholic churches. He is the author of "What Does It Mean to Be A Catholic?" and "What are the Sacraments All About?" He is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cardinal Tobin: Could he become the first American pope?