Thomas Groome
{{Short description|Irish author and professor (born 1945)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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Thomas H. Groome is an author and a professor in theology and religious education at Boston College.{{Cite journal|last=Groden|first=Jude|year=2003|title=A Holistic Catholic Education|jstor=27664712|journal=The Furrow|volume=54|issue=3|pages=181–186}} Groome has been critical of the Catholic Church's stance on clerical celibacy.
Biography
Professor Groome has a doctoral degree from Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bc.edu/schools/stm/faculty/groome.html|title = School of Theology and Ministry - Boston College}} He has taught at seminaries in several countries. Books have been published about his teaching in several languages.{{Cite book|url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/9810754|isbn = 9789152647042|title = Livets berättelser : Introduktion till Thomas H. Groomes religionspedagogik|year = 2005|last1 = Larsson|first1 = Rune| publisher=Verbum }} In 1998–99, Groome was president of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education (APRRE).{{cite web|title=Officials of REA and APRRE|url=http://www.religiouseducation.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/History-OFFICIALS-REA-APRRE.pdf|publisher=Religious Education Association: An Association of Professors, Practitioners, and Researchers in Religious Education|access-date=November 26, 2014}} As of 2014, he is a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College. He chairs the school's Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.{{cite journal |last1=Groome |first1=Thomas |title=From Life to faith |journal=Journal of Adult Theological Education |date=2011 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=8–23 |doi=10.1558/jate.v8i1.8 |s2cid=145515250 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1558/jate.v8i1.8 |access-date=21 December 2023}}
In 2012, Groome said that the struggling Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston had made progress by keeping parishes from closing and by reconnecting with lapsed Catholics. He cautioned that the archdiocese would be affected by a coming shortage of priests and said that the church would eventually have to make the decision to allow married men in the priesthood.{{cite web|last1=Lindsay|first1=Jay|title=Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley approves archdiocese reshuffle|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/boston_cardinal_sean_omalley_a.html|publisher=The Republican|access-date=November 26, 2014|date=November 15, 2012}}
Writing a piece for The Boston Globe in 2002, Groome advocated for the inclusion of women in the Catholic priesthood. "What a loss it is when ordained ministry is limited to men, excluding the consciousness and gifts of women; at best we benefit from only half our priestly resources," he wrote. In the same article, he wrote that the priestly requirement of celibacy may have inadvertently attracted a number of gay men to the priesthood. He said that when young men are taught that those with a homosexual orientation must remain chaste, some of those men may choose the celibate lifestyle of a priest.{{cite news|last1=Groome|first1=Thomas|title=The free flow of fresh air|url=http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories/051902_focus.htm|access-date=November 26, 2014|work=The Boston Globe|date=May 19, 2002}}
Writing
Groome has written several books, including Christian Religious Education.{{Cite journal|last=Browning|first=Don|year=1982|title=On Religious Education in a Pluralistic World|jstor=1202374|journal=The Journal of Religion|volume=62|issue=4|pages=418–424|doi=10.1086/486967|s2cid=143181456}} In that work, he developed the concept of shared Christian praxis, which Neville Clement called "groundbreaking in bringing insights from contemporary educational disciplines,
philosophy, and theology to bear on Christian religious education."{{cite journal|last1=Clement|first1=Neville|title=Thomas Groome and the intersection of narrative and action: Praxis, dialectic and hermeneutics|journal=Australian eJournal of Theology|date=May 2007|volume=10|pages=1–12|url=http://aejt.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/378106/AEJT_10.6_Clement_Thomas_Groome.pdf|access-date=November 26, 2014}}
He also wrote What Makes Us Catholic (2002). Reviewing that book for Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, Donna Frazier wrote that Groome was "engaging and personal" but that "readers who have left the Church might not recognize Groome's positive vision of the Church as the same institution that hurt or disappointed them."{{cite journal|last1=Frazier|first1=Donna|title=What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Life, by Thomas Groome|journal=Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice|date=July 2013|volume=7|issue=2|pages=281–283|url=http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1254&context=ce|access-date=November 26, 2014}} Publishers Weekly wrote, "Groome's reputation as an author of several Catholic school texts could make his latest book a popular resource for adult educational programs, since each chapter includes questions suitable for group discussion. However, despite the author's claim that he writes for Catholics "who span the spectrum," his views may alienate more conservative members."{{cite web|title=Review: What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Life|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-063398-1|publisher=Publishers Weekly|access-date=November 26, 2014}}
References
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Category:Irish emigrants to the United States
Category:Union Theological Seminary alumni
Category:Boston College faculty
Category:American education writers
Category:People from County Kildare
Category:Alumni of Carlow College