| Education: | University of Notre Dame St. John Fisher Seminary Pontifical North American College |
| Occupation: | Catholic priest Rector of the Pontifical North American College |
Thomas W. Powers is a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut. On March 30, 2022, it was announced that he will succeed Fr. Peter Harman as the twenty-fourth rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome.[1]
Thomas W. Powers was raised in Newtown, Connecticut. The son of Thomas and Margaret Mary Powers, he is one of five children.[2] He attended Immaculate High School in Danbury and went on to undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame.[2] He graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and a minor in finance.[2] After college, he worked as a financial consultant with Anderson Consulting in New York.[1]
In 1992, Powers entered seminary and completed philosophical studies through St. John Fisher Seminary in Trumbull.[2] He went on to study theology at the Pontifical North American College and obtained a bachelor's degree in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a licentiate at the John Paul II Institute when it was part of the Pontifical Lateran University.[2] [3] He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Bridgeport on May 24, 1997.[1] [4]
After ordination, Powers served as parochial vicar at St. Theresa Parish in Trumbull from 1998 to 2001.[2] From 2001 to 2005, he served as the spiritual director of St. John Fisher Seminary and chaplain of Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford.[2] In 2005, he was sent to Rome to serve in the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, during which time he served as an adjunct spiritual director for seminarians at the North American College.[1] He was named a Chaplain of His Holiness with the title "Monsignor" in 2010.[2] After returning to Bridgeport in 2015, he served as vicar general and moderator of the curia of the diocese.[2] Since 2020, he has also served as pastor of St. John Parish in Darien.[1] [2]
Powers' appointment as Rector of the Pontifical North American College was made public on March 30, 2022.[5] His term will begin on July 1, 2022.[1]