Reverend Thomas J. Davis, JD, LLM, MA, is the pastor of Saint Ann Melkite Catholic Church in Danbury, Connecticut. He was ordained as a deacon on October 10, 2004, and as a priest on December 1, 2019. He lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut with his wife, Joanne. They have three adult children, Thomas Gregory, Julia and Sophia.
Read about Fr. Tom’s journey here
Father Tom has been actively engaged in the practice of law for forty years. He has been an assistant attorney general of the State of Connecticut since 1991, and previously served as an assistant corporation counsel of the City of New York. He teaches Bioethics & Law at Holy Apostles College & Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut, where he serves as Chair of the Bioethics Graduate Concentration Program and has taught courses in the graduate program in Medical Ethics and Case Studies in Bioethics.
Father Tom is the founder and president of Liberty Institute for Faith & Ethics (L.I.F.E) and is the Director of L.I.F.E.’s Saint John Paul II Bioethics Center, Religious Liberty Observatory, and Center for the Study of Bioethics & Law.
Father Tom earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Fordham University (1978), a Certificate of Studies in International Human Rights and International Energy Law from the University of San Diego School of Law Institute on International and Comparative Law (1979), was awarded a degree as Juris Doctor from Quinnipiac University School Law (1981), where he also served as the Lead Editor of the Law Review from 1980-81, and a Master of Laws in Trade Regulation from New York University School of Law (1988). In addition, he has a Certification in Teaching Advocacy Skills from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) at Harvard Law School (1998), a Master of Arts in Moral Theology from Holy Apostles College & Seminary (2004), and is an Allied Attorney Graduate of the Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Academy (Laguna Niguel, California 2011) and a member of its Honor Roll for pro bono legal service in defense of life, family, and religious liberty.
Father Tom’s publications include:
- Treating Embryocide with White Gloves, published online in Crisis Magazine, June 28, 2018
- Religious Liberty and Moral Courage: The Right to Fight, Davis, T., Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly (2018)
- Evaluation of the Mechanism of Action of Anti-Fertility Treatment in Cases of Sexual Assault: Moral Certitude and Human Acts (book chapter in Contemporary Controversies in Catholic Bioethics, edited by Jason T. Eberl, Springer Catholic Studies in Bioethics Series, ed. Christopher Tollefsen (2016)
- The Labeling of Plan B, A Summary of the Regulatory Discussions, Ethics & Medics, National Catholic Bioethics Center (August, 2012)
- Plan B Agonistics: Doubt, Debate, and Denial, Lead Article, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly (winter, 2010-2011)
- Remaking the Church, Four Part Series, National Catholic Register, 2010 (Retrospective exposé of Voice of the Faithful, its role in attempts to amend Connecticut’s Religious Corporations Act to oust clerical authority in Catholic parish corporate entities, and the theological and exegetical errors driving its agenda) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
- A Case Specific Primer on the Principle of Cooperation: Emergency Contraception Mandates, presented at the Twenty-Second Workshop for Bishops (2009), National Catholic Bioethics Center
- Plan B and the Rout of Religious Liberty, Ethics & Medics, National Catholic Bioethics Center (December, 2007)
- An “A” Plan for Plan B, Connecticut’s Cautionary Tale, National Catholic Register (2007)
- Understanding Plan B, The Catholic Transcript, April, 2007
- Advance Medical Directives in the Autonomy Wilderness: Anthropology, Culture and Meaning (2004)
- Fine Art and Moral Rights: The Immoral Triumph of Emotionalism, Lead Article, 17 Hofstra Law Review 317 (winter, 1989)
Father Tom founded the Catholic Medical Association Guild in the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut in 2011 and is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, the state Bars of Connecticut and New York, and the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.