The Catholic bishops of Louisiana have appointed Tom Costanza executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops. Costanza succeeds Rob Tasman, who served in that position for 12 years.
Costanza has served in church ministry since 1992 and most recently with the Office of Social Apostolate (1996-2002) and with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans since 2002 as director of the Office of Justice and Peace. Most recently he served as a division director for CCANO.
He has earned advanced degrees in Theology, Social Work and Business Administration. He was a seminarian for the Archdiocese of New Orleans for three-and-a-half years.
The LCCB, which has as its foundation the teachings of the Catholic Church, serves to coordinate education of the people through joint pastoral statements; to promote collaboration in shared projects among Catholic dioceses and other institutions; and to communicate and interact with local, parish, state and federal bodies.