Father Thomas D. Williams LC, an American Moral Theologian, is a theology professor at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome and Consultant on Vatican affairs for CBS News. In this capacity, Father Williams covered the U.S. Papal visit of Pope Benedict XVI in April, 2008 and the Pope's trip to the Holy Land in July, 2009. From 2004 to 2007 Williams worked as Faith and Religion Analyst for NBC and MSNBC News, and during this time he appeared regularly on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Dateline, and MSNBC's Ethical Edge. He has also worked extensively for Sky News in Britain covering Church and ethical issues. For both NBC and Sky News, Williams covered the final illness and death of Pope John Paul II, the 2005 papal conclave and the election of Pope Benedict XVI.

Thomas Williams grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and studied finance and economics at the University of Michigan, where he earned a bachelors degree in business administration and managerial economics with high distinction. Shortly afterward, in September, 1985, he entered the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ and for the next nine years studied Catholic spirituality in Cheshire (Connecticut), classical humanities and ancient and modern languages in Salamanca (Spain), and philosophy and theology in Rome. Williams was ordained a Catholic priest on November 25, 1994 in Mexico City.

In that same year, Father Williams was appointed superior of the community of the general directorate of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome and served in this position for six years. During this time he continued his graduate studies, obtaining a licentiate degree in Philosophy and a doctorate in Theology summa cum laude. In 2000 he was named dean of the Theology School at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, a post he held from 2000 to 2007. At Regina Apostolorum Williams teaches courses in Moral Theology, Catholic Social Thought, Dignity and Human Rights, Conscience, and Christology. He is also senior fellow at the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology in the United States and a member of the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Williams has taught in various capacities in Trujillo (Peru), Leggiuno (Italy), Caracas (Venezuela), Krakow (Poland) and Madrid (Spain). In 2002 and 2003 he served as theological consultant to Mel Gibson for the making of the film The Passion of the Christ.

Father Williams is conversant in English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German and has a working knowledge of Portuguese, Latin and ancient Greek.

A well-known speaker and writer, Williams has published 11 books, including Who Is My Neighbor? Personalism and the Foundations of Human Rights (Catholic University of America Press, 2005), Servants and Witnesses of Hope (Logos Press, 2001), Springtime of Evangelization (Ignatius Press, 1999), Building on Solid Ground (Staten Island: Alba House, 1994), Spiritual Progress: Becoming the Christian You Want to Be (Hachette, 2007), Greater Than You Think: A Theologian Answers the Atheists About God (Hachette, 2008) and Knowing Right From Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience (Hachette, 2008). His latest book is Can God Be Trusted? Finding Faith in Troubled Times and was released in October, 2009.

Williams has also published more than a hundred articles both scholarly and popular on a wide range of topics, and his essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, First Things, Sacerdos, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The National Catholic Register, Catholic Dossier, Seminarium, The Irish Catholic, Inside the Vatican, Logos, Crisis Magazine, Alpha Omega, National Review, Sapientia, The Human Life Review, Nova et Vetera, The Catholic Thing, Katholische Wochenzeitung, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, új Ember, Catholic Men's Quarterly, Catalunya Cristiana, Ecclesia, Kvarnerski Vez, The Denver Catholic Register and Famiglia Cristiana. He has also been cited in The New York Times, Newsweek, Time Magazine, USA Today, The Detroit Free Press, The Philadelphia Enquirer, and The Houston Chronicle.

Father Williams is also a regular preacher of Ignatian Spiritual Exercises for priests and laypersons.