"I left Rome in November of 2009 thinking I had said goodbye to the Eternal City and then in July of 2010 I got the call to come back."
This time, the call came while he was on a sabbatical year, studying at Oxford University in England after a stay at the Trappist Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. There was word that the order's mission in Cuba might be in his future.
"I guess there was a different plan," he said.
The Pope appointed then-Father Tobin to his current position as secretary of the congregation for religious last August. And he was in Rome to start work a month later.
"There's a whole lot to learn," he said, still less than six months into the job.
The work, he said, is a lot like that of his previous position as leader of the Redemptorists, but with some major differences.
Learning the realities of monastic life and women's religious orders have been new for him. Getting used to his role as a bishop and living outside of community for the first time in his life have also made for changes.
The Vatican department was not completely unfamiliar ground. In Rome, in addition to being his order's superior, he was vice president of the international men's religious Union of Superiors General and served as a member of the Council of 16, a group of international men's and women's congregation leaders. These positions put him in periodic contact with the officials from the congregation for religious.
He described his position as "CEO," whereas the head or prefect of the congregation is like the "chairman of the board.” He works to coordinate the 40 men and women working in the office and corresponds with other Vatican departments. He sees that the prefect has more responsibility for the general policy and reports directly to the Pope.
As secretary, his new job is "day-to-day service ... to the million or so men and women of consecrated life around the world," he said.
While that job description awaited him when he walked in the door, he has learned that the scope of his position is "just about anything" to do with Catholic religious life on the globe.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
He described the role of the department as one of helping communities in times of need or discernment and assisting them in dealing with other circumstances that may arise. They promote mutual awareness between orders and local bishops when there are misunderstandings, for example.
As he begins to settle into his duties, another new arrival will be forthcoming. Pope Benedict XVI appointed a new prefect, Archbishop Joao Braz de Aviz of Brasilia, to take the reigns from the 76-year old Vincentian Cardinal Rode, his now former superior.
Archbishop Braz de Aviz was appointed on Jan. 4 and due to arrive in the Vatican soon.
The two archbishops have not yet met, but the secretary said he has written his new superior to welcome him.