The following interview was conducted and originally published by the Word on Fire Institute Journal. We’re proud to share this conversation, highlighting our own Tom Antonini, who serves as General Counsel and Director of Risk Management for the Diocese of Toledo. The questions, writing, and editorial direction were all provided by the Word on Fire team, who chose to spotlight Tom as a member of the Institute. We’re grateful for the opportunity to share their excellent work—and Tom’s inspiring witness—with a wider audience.
Q: Tom, it is a pleasure to have this conversation with you! Let’s begin with your background. You were raised in the Buckeye State (which I presume gives your Fighting Irish heart a little ache after this year’s NCAA national championship football game). What was it like growing up Antonini in Toledo, Ohio?
TOM ANTONINI: Ha, that loss certainly hurt, but Coach Marcus Freeman—a fairly recent convert to Catholicism—has Notre Dame on the right track, including bringing back the tradition of a team Mass before every game. Growing up in Toledo was wonderful. I have one brother and four sisters, and it was a time when you would just play outside all day until it got dark and your parents called you home.
My mom was a teacher by background but primarily raised us, earning her master’s degree in education later in life. My dad was an attorney when there really weren’t a lot of attorneys around, if you can imagine that. We were very proud and fortunate to have them as parents, and sadly, they both died at relatively young ages—Mom at 57, Dad at 67. We were the only Catholic family on our block, and even as a young child I thought that was kind of special.
Q: Tell us a little about your family’s Catholic faith and how God figured into your upbringing.
TA: Our parents were very devout and would not think of allowing us to miss Mass. They found a way to send all six of us to Catholic school from grade school through college, and I don’t know how that could happen today. At home, my dad often remarked that the Holy Spirit constantly worked through the Catholic Church—although he wasn’t entirely sure of that when attending his first “guitar Mass”!
I didn’t even know there was such an award, but at high school graduation I was awarded the Bishop’s Cross. My mom literally cried with joy, and that always meant a lot to me.
Q: Was there any time in your childhood or young adulthood that you wandered from your Catholic faith? And if not, to what would you credit your fidelity during what can often be tumultuous years?
TA: It’s interesting—when I consider my closest friends in high school, college, and law school, none of us seemed to have gone through that angry adolescent phase or “young adult turn away from the Church” phase. We weren’t embarrassed to hang out with our parents. Again, I credit my parents. And I’ll quote my dad during times of tumult: “It’s a good time to be Catholic.” I guess that brings to mind Peter asking the Lord, “To whom can we go?”
Q: As a young man, you found yourself accepted to the University of Notre Dame and pursuing a B.A. in history and English. What drew you to Notre Dame, and how did you decide on this particular course of study?
TA: Well, of course, back then most Catholic kids grew up rooting for Notre Dame football, so it was only natural I dreamed of going to school there. I’m certain the admissions standards have changed a bit since I attended. A love of reading led to my interest in studying history and English, and certainly my dad’s career inspired me to pursue law school.
Q: How did the University of Notre Dame form your faith?
TA: This was the mid- to late 1980s, and at the time a very large percentage of the students attended weekly Mass. Our dorm had nightly Mass, and Sunday Mass was standing room only. Law school was much the same—Sunday Mass was a highlight of the week for just about everyone. You don’t get very far walking around Notre Dame’s campus without bumping into a beautiful reminder of our faith.
Q: Next, you pursued a law degree at the University of Notre Dame Law School. What was your draw to the law? What do the rigors of the law and tenets of the Catholic faith share in common?
TA: My dad’s influence—just watching what a consummate professional he was and how he truly cherished the law—had a lot to do with it. Plus, I had a vague idea that I’d get to do a lot of reading and writing as a lawyer, and that very much attracted me. Above all else, law school teaches you to reason.
But as Bishop Barron and you yourself, Tod, have said often, reason and the Catholic faith are not opposed to one another but rather are complementary. And this stands to reason—pun intended—since we know our rights flow through the natural law, of which God is the creator. There are some point-blank parallels between the law and our Catholic faith: the law provides for just punishment and opportunities for rehabilitation for those who break it, while our faith tells us that man is a sinner—yet redeemable through the Incarnation.
Q: You are married with three sons. Tell us about your family and how you and your wife have brought faith to life for your kids.
TA: My wife, Jennifer, and I actually met at the law firm where I worked before joining the diocese. She is also an attorney, and we’ve been married for thirty-three years. Our three adult boys have somewhat scattered: Joe lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Safiya; Johnny has settled for now in Toledo; and Stephen lives in L.A.
They all have the creative gene, with no apparent interest in a legal career. Our proudest achievement as parents is that they all get along terrifically, and we have loads of fun when we get together. Of course, parents worry about their children and whether they “still go to Mass.” I somewhat jokingly require my sons to send a picture of their forehead on Ash Wednesday. We’ve come to know Saint Monica, and so far the faith is holding steady.
Q: After practicing for thirty years as a civil litigator, you moved into the Diocese of Toledo to serve as General Counsel in 2017. What prompted that change? And what does the daily life of a Diocesan General Counsel look like?
TA: I very much enjoyed private practice and even the intense grind of being a trial lawyer. But toward the end of that phase of my career, I seemed to be more at odds with some of my partners and clients than with my opponents in the courtroom. The practice of law had also changed and become much more bottom-line focused. When the position of General Counsel became available, I could not believe my good luck—but have since come to recognize that it was pure grace that led me to the diocese.
What a fascinating experience I’ve had in the eight years since. On any given day—and more often every day—I’ll transition from work on mundane matters like reviewing a contract for the Saturday night band at a parish festival to helping draft a submission to the Vatican on a matter of high import. I’m a one-man shop. Prayer is a constant, and our bishop, Most Rev. Daniel E. Thomas, sets that tone. Ora et labora would be a fitting motto for Bishop Thomas—he sets an unbelievable pace and does so with patience, class, and genuine good nature.
Q: How has your personal faith been impacted by your professional involvement with the Diocese of Toledo? Is there ever a part of the sausage making that leaves your faith a bit cold, or have you been impressed with the walk of faith you have seen from the inside?
TA: That is a great question. Actually, Bishop Thomas asked me during my final interview if I was prepared to handle the tough stuff as a lawyer representing the Catholic Church. I assured him I was, and it has worked out that way. Not once have I been asked to take—nor would I counsel others to take—a course of action that wasn’t fully transparent, consistent with Church teaching, and caring for those involved. This is particularly true in the most difficult of cases I have worked on as an attorney for the Church.
Q: Are there professional associations with whom you are involved that allow you to offer your professional expertise while also living out your personal faith?
TA: Bishop Thomas asked me to help form a Saint Thomas More Society within the legal community here in Toledo and throughout the diocese. We are about eight years in and growing. Our mission statement describes the society as an association of attorneys, judges, canon lawyers, and others who work in or closely with the legal profession within the Diocese of Toledo, formed to promote and foster high ethical principles in the legal community and, in particular, among Catholic legal professionals, as exemplified by the life of Saint Thomas More.
We primarily chase these goals through charitable service, educational seminars, celebration of an annual Red Mass, and fellowship. Like many organizations, we are looking to attract younger members of the legal profession to keep the flame burning.
Q: As you know, we at Word on Fire are unrepentant bibliophiles. What books are currently on your nightstand, and what two books would you recommend everybody read?
TA: I am working my way through Thomas Merton’s Journals—currently volume four, although I’ve not yet tracked down volumes one through three, so I’m a bit out of order. Next up is Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life by Zena Hitz, which you featured on one of your terrific Evangelization & Culture podcasts. Non-spiritually, I’m reading The Basketball 100, about the best NBA players of all time.
I don’t mean to fall back on “the Bible is my favorite book” as a recommendation, but in my view, the Word on Fire version of the Gospels is a wonderful reading experience.
Q: Tom, how did you find your way into the Word on Fire Institute, and how has Bishop Barron impacted your faith?
TA: Boy, it hit all at once—and I mean within a matter of weeks. A friend gave me Bishop Barron’s To Light a Fire on the Earth; I read in The National Catholic Register a review of (and ordered) the Word on Fire Bible; and we had a series of work lunch-and-learns on Bishop Barron’s Letters to a Suffering Church. I was absolutely stunned. Who is this guy who so eloquently and approachably defends the faith? My parents would have loved this guy, I thought!
I don’t know how I missed the Catholicism series when it came out, but what a great personal discovery—and what an absolute gift to the Church Bishop Robert Barron is. God bless him and Word on Fire.
Posted July 3, 2025 at 3:32 pm