Dr. William A. Thomas was born in Ireland of Welsh parents. He went to school in Switzerland and later to university in New Mexico where he studied metaphysics. He studied philosophy at Western Kentucky University, and then, in 1983, he began studies at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome where he received his Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) in 1985 and later his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) and his
Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) His doctoral thesis on the ‘efficacy of prayer and divine illuminations’ in Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle was directed by the esteemed theologian, Father Jordan Aumann O.P. Dr. Thomas served as the English Secretary to His Excellency Bishop Van Lierde OSA, the Vicar General of His Holiness Pope Saint John Paul II, in the Apostolic Palace. He has taught in Rwanda and Peru and is currently Professor of Mariology at Newman College Ireland. He is a member of the Pontifical Marian Academy and Director of the Saint John Paul II Institute of Marian Studies. He has published over 2,000 articles on the Blessed Virgin Mary and related devotional articles. He is currently pursuing a second doctorate at the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in Rome with a thesis on St. Bernadette of Lourdes and her link with Blessed Pope Pius IX.