Thomas Gaunt, S.J.
2300 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 400-A, Washington, DC 20007 //
Father Thomas Gaunt, S.J. currently serves as the executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a position he has held since January 2011. He has recently edited or co-authored the following books: "Catholic Bishops in the United States: Church Leadership in the Third Millennium" (Oxford University Press, 2019), "Pathways to Religious Life" (Oxford University Press, 2018), "Word, Liturgy, Charity: The Diaconate in the U.S. Catholic Church," 1968-2018 (Lexington Books, 2018), and "Catholic Parishes in the 21st Century" (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Prior to coming to CARA, Father Gaunt has served in Jesuit governance as the Socius/Executive Secretary of the Jesuit Conference-USA for nine years and the Formation and Studies Director of the Maryland and New York Jesuit Provinces for seven years. After ordination, he spent ten years as a pastor and as Director of Planning and Research in the Diocese of Charlotte.
Father Gaunt entered the Society of Jesus in 1971, after which he earned a BA in Philosophy from St. Louis University in Missouri. In 1981, the year of Father Gaunt’s ordination, he received an STB from the Bellarmine School of Theology in Chicago and a Masters of Divinity from Loyola University in Chicago. Father Gaunt later went on to complete a Masters in Public Administration and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning.