John Todd Zuhlsdorf (born October 28, 1959), also known as Father Z, is an American

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and traditionalist known for his blogging activities. Incardinated in the

Diocese of Velletri-Segni In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, he lived and worked in the Diocese of Madison from 2014 to 2021, broadcasting a daily

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...

and issuing commentary on individuals and events from a traditionalist Catholic perspective.

Life

Zuhlsdorf was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, in 1959. He studied classical languages and theatre at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Formerly a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, he says his conversion to Catholicism was set into motion after hearing a piece of sacred

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

on the radio. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

a priest in Rome by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on May 26, 1991. After ordination, Zuhlsdorf attended the

Patristic Institute Augustinianum The Patristicum, officially the Augustinian Patristic Institute ( la, Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum), is a pontifical institute in Rome, under the supervision of the Order of Saint Augustine. It is an incorporated institute of the Pontif ...

, which conferred a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theol ...

. Later, Zuhlsdorf became a weekly columnist for the traditionalist newspaper '' The Wanderer'', and has appeared on

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in ...

and the

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

. Since 2011 he has written a weekly column for the ''

Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of abo ...

'' in the UK. He is best known for his

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

''Fr. Z's Blog'' (previously named: ''What Does the Prayer Really Say?)'', in which he comments on Catholic tradition and current church events, advocates for reverent celebration of both authorized forms of the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

of the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

, the post-

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and 1 ...

form and the 1962 Tridentine form, and for the growth of the

sacrament of Penance The Sacrament of Penance (also commonly called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is one of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (known in Eastern Christianity as sacred mysteries), in which ...

. "The Staggers", the blog of the British magazine ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', listed Zuhlsdorf's site as one of the top ten Christian blogs in the world. In September 2017, after Zuhlsdorf wrote a post titled "Should a seminary headline a homosexualist activist as a speaker?" about a then-upcoming talk by James Martin at

Theological College A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, a seminary located at but independent of the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

. Martin became the subject of online criticism. Two days after the post was published, Theological College withdrew Martin's invitation. The Catholic University of America issued a statement denouncing the decision to cancel. In January 2021, Zuhlsdorf became involved in a public dispute over his execution of a live-streamed exorcism against participants in the

2021 United States Electoral College vote count The count of the Electoral College ballots during a joint session of the 117th United States Congress, pursuant to the Electoral Count Act, on January 6–7, 2021, was the final step to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 20 ...

. He said he had received the permission of his local ordinary, Bishop

Donald J. Hying Donald Joseph Hying (born August 18, 1963) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin since 2019. Hying previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Gary (in Indiana and ...

, the bishop of the Diocese of Madison, to celebrate the exorcism as it related to the election. However, Hying disputed that statement, saying he had granted permission to Zuhlsdorf to pray the exorcism against the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and not for political activity. On January 16, 2021, the Diocese of Madison announced that Zuhlsdorf had reached a mutual decision with Hying to leave his position of ministry there, and relocate to an unnamed new location. He intends to continue writing his blog. According to canon law, he will need to obtain faculties from another bishop before beginning to minister in his jurisdiction. Zuhlsdorf is president of the

Society of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zuhlsdorf, John Living people 1959 births 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests American bloggers American male bloggers Catholic media Christian bloggers Clergy from Minneapolis Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Traditionalist Catholic priests American traditionalist Catholics University of Minnesota alumni 21st-century American Roman Catholic priests