The Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration
The Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration was established in 2014 by the board of trustees of the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) through a generous contribution from The Rotondaro Family Fund. The lecture will be delivered at a CMS-hosted event each year by a leading scholar on international migration. The lecture and accompanying paper will cover a migration-related topic of pressing concern to faith communities.
Father Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S., a founding member of CMS, directed the institute from 1968 to 2001. During his tenure at CMS, Father Tomasi was the founding editor of Migration World Magazine, a bi-monthly review of migration policy issues. He was also editor of the annual volume, In Defense of the Alien, the proceedings of an annual conference held on immigrants’ rights and immigration policy.
Born in Vincenza, Italy, Father Tomasi entered the Scalabrinian Seminary for high school in Brescia and college in Como. After his noviciate in Treviso, he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, where he earned his Philosophy and Theology Licenses and was ordained priest by Cardinal Confalonieri on December 16, 1962. In May 1984, he received his Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University.
After his ordination, Father Tomasi was assigned as instructor of Systematic Philosophy and History at St. Charles Seminary in Staten Island, New York. In 1967, Father Tomasi served as Parochial Vicar at the Church of St. Michael in New Haven, Connecticut. He subsequently served for four years as Pastor of the Church of St. Joseph located in Lower Manhattan in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown, where he had an opportunity to test theories of immigrant incorporation, multicultural congregations, and the institutional role of churches in the adjustment process of immigrants.
On January 15, 2006, Father Tomasi was appointed Pastor of Holy Rosary Church in Washington DC. He served in that position through June 2013. Since 2013, Father Tomasi has served as CMS’s executive director emeritus.
In 1985, the President of the Republic of Italy bestowed on Father Tomasi the title of Cavaliere Ufficiale in the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. In 1991, the Rotary Club made Father Tomasi a Paul Harris Fellow. In 1993, the Order Sons of Italy in America bestowed on Father Tomasi the Children of Columbus Award. In 1996, Father Tomasi was the recipient of the prestigious International Prize “Guido Durso,” sponsored by the journal Politica Meridionalista of the University of Naples.
Reverend Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S., Ph.D.Father Lydio F. Tomasi is a founding member of the Center for Migration Studies and directed the agency from 1968 to 2001. During his tenure at CMS, Father Tomasi was the founding editor of Migration World Magazine, a bi-monthly review............
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Date of Publication:October 2, 2020Authors: His Eminence Cardinal Michael F. Czerny, SJ
Mobility and Lockdown: Challenges to the HumanThe 2020 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration was delivered by His Eminence Cardinal Michael F. Czerny, SJ, Under-Secretary for the Migrants & Refugees Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Human Development....
View Publication Date of Publication:March 12, 2019Authors: Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas
Border Spirituality: ‘Tu eres mi otro yo’The 2019 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s. Annual Lecture on International Migration was delivered by Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas, Pastor of St. Mark's Parish in El Paso, TX on March 12, 2019 at the sixth national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in Santa Clara, California....
View Publication Date of Publication:October 12, 2017Authors: María Clara Lucchetti Bingemer
Migrations: A Contemporary Challenge to Theological ThinkingThe Father Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration was established in 2014 by the CMS board of trustees through a generous contribution from The Rotondaro Family Fund. The lecture is delivered at a CMS-hosted event each year............
View Publication Date of Publication:November 28, 2016Authors: Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ
Migrants and Refugees in Pope Francis’s Transformative Vision of Church and SocietyThe 2016 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s. Annual Lecture delivered by Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ, Distinguished Scholar in Pastoral Theology and Latino Studies and Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University, on November 28, 2016 at the fourth national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in San Diego, California....
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2020 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration | Mobility and Lockdown: Challenges to the HumanEstablished in 2014, the Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration addresses a migration-related topic of pressing concern to faith communities. Fr. Tomasi, a founding member of the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), directed the institute from 1968 to 2001. Co-sponsored with the University of Notre Dame, the 2020 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration was delivered by His Eminence Cardinal Michael F. Czerny, SJ, Under-Secretary for the Migrants & Refugees Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Human Development....
Read More 2019 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration | Border Spirituality: ‘Tu eres mi otro yo’
Established in 2014, the Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration addresses a migration-related topic of pressing concern to faith communities. Co-sponsored with the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University, the 2019 Tomasi Lecture was delivered by Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas, S.T.D., Pastor of St. Mark's Parish in El Paso, Texas at the fifth national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in Santa Clara, California....
Read More 2017 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration
For 2017, the Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, CS Annual Lecture on International Migration and the Loyola Marymount University Hispanic Ministry and Theology Lecture jointly presented Dr. Maria Clara Bingemer, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC) and Brazilian Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Democracy and Human Development in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame....
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