Bishop Thomas A. Daly has named Fr. Lucas Tomson, S.T.D. as the next Rector of Bishop White Seminary beginning July 1, 2025. Fr. Tomson will succeed Fr. Daniel Barnett, who has served as Rector since 2015.
Fr. Tomson will join two other priests in residence who serve at Bishop White: Fr. Kyle Ratuiste, Vice-Rector and Dean of Men, and Fr. John Murphy, SJ, Coordinator of Spiritual Formation. In addition to the priests in residence, the Community of Formators includes a number of priests, religious, and lay men and women who all work together to provide healthy, holy priests for the Church in the western United States.
“I have known Fr. Tomson since he was a seminarian here,” said Fr. Barnett. “He is a man of communion, competence, character, and compassion—an excellent priest and pastor. The Bishop White community is poised for growth and expansion, and he is ideally suited to shepherd it into the future.”
Fr. Tomson is himself a 2003 alumnus of Bishop White Seminary. He then attended seminary at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. While there, he earned a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Urbe (the Angelicum) in 2006 and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Patristic Institute in 2007.
Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Spokane in 2007, Fr. Tomson will bring to his role a broad experience of pastoral leadership. He has served as parochial vicar of Assumption Parish and teacher at DeSales High School in Walla Walla (2007-2009), as well as parochial vicar of Assumption Parish in Spokane (2009-2010), adjunct faculty member at Gonzaga University (2009), pastor of Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Okanogan (2010-2015), and pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Student Center, and adjunct assistant professor of History at Washington State University in Pullman (2015-2019).
While balancing full-time priestly ministry, Fr. Tomson earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Patristics Institute in 2019. He is currently serving as Pastor of St. Peter Parish in Spokane, as well as the diocesan Ecumenical Officer and Director of Ongoing Priest Formation. Drawing on his doctoral work on St. Augustine, Fr. Tomson has taught a regular course for seminarians in the Cor Christi program.
Fr. Barnett’s future assignment within the Diocese of Spokane will be announced later in the spring. In the meantime, he continues to rally support for Bishop White. “We rely on the prayers and financial donations of our friends,” said Fr. Barnett.
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