John Zuhlsdorf
John Todd Zuhlsdorf is an American Catholic priest, of the Diocese of Velletri-Segni, and currently living in the Diocese of Madison. He is also a Catholic blogging personality known as "Father Z". He currently works in Madison, Wisconsin.Life
Zuhlsdorf was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1959. As a young man he studied at the University of Minnesota. Formerly a Lutheran, he says his conversion to Catholicism was set into motion after hearing a piece of sacred polyphony on the radio. He was ordained a priest in Rome by Pope John Paul II on May 26, 1991.
After ordination, Fr Zuhlsdorf attended the Patristic Institute Augustinianum, which conferred a Licentiate of Sacred Theology.
Later, Zuhlsdorf became a weekly columnist for the traditionalist newspaper The Wanderer, and has appeared on EWTN and the Fox News Channel. Since 2011 he has written a weekly column for the Catholic Herald in the UK. He is best known for his blog Fr. Z's Blog , in which he comments on Catholic tradition and current Church events, advocates for reverent celebration of both authorized forms of the Roman Rite liturgy of the Mass, the post-Vatican II form and the 1962 Tridentine form, and for the growth of the sacrament of Penance. "The Staggers", the blog of the British magazine New Statesman'', 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 an upcoming talk by Fr. James Martin, SJ at Theological College, a seminary located at but independent of the Catholic University of America. 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.
Zuhlsdorf is president of the Tridentine Mass Society of Madison, Wisconsin.
