Thomas Comerford Lawler, co-author and co-editor of the popular adult catechism The Teaching of Christ, died Nov. 20 at his home at Falcon’s Landing in Potomac Falls at the age of 84. He had been under hospice care for about a week.

"With Tom Lawler’s passing, we say goodbye to one of our diocese’s pioneers in catechesis and religious education," said Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde said. "His many gifts — a catechist, writer and editor, to name a few — benefited our diocese as well as the universal Church. Our diocesan family joins me in commending Tom to our Blessed Lord, Whom he served so faithfully. May the Lord now give him fullness of life in His eternal presence."

Bishop Loverde presented Lawler with the Holy Fathers’ Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal in 2001 in recognition of his dedicated and distinguished service to the Church, notably in the area of catechetics and Christian formation. 

Lawler worked for three years on the bestselling catechism with Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh and his brother, Capuchin Father Ronald Lawler. It was first published in 1976 by Our Sunday Visitor and has been translated into at least 13 languages, including Croatian, Korean and Tagalog. The fifth edition, which was released in 2004, updates the bestseller with the latest Church documents, including the official Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Father Lawler, who devoted much of his priestly ministry to teaching seminarians, died in November 2003. Bishop Wuerl still heads the Pittsburgh Diocese.

Tom Lawler said he was not surprised by the catechism’s popularity. "When it came out we expected it to hold on," he told the Pittsburgh Catholic in 1992. "We expected it to hold a number of years.

"I’ve had several people read the book quite recently and they were amazed by the fact that it covers so much ground," Lawler said. "When we put out the first edition, it was a tremendous thing to get it edited. Not only that, but to get it together in one piece. That was an amazing story to us."

Lawler was born Dec. 19, 1920, in Cumberland, Md. He attended St. Fidelia Seminary from 1934-40 and served in the U.S. Army from 1942-46. He had a long career with the Central Intelligence Agency from 1951-77.

In 1977, he was appointed by former Arlington Bishop Thomas J. Welsh as the first director of the newly established Religious Education Department for the Arlington Diocese. He viewed himself as a tool to support the bishop as the diocese’s chief catechist.

"The purpose of catechesis is that people’s faith, enlightened by instruction, come alive, be explicit and active," Lawler said. "There is no one way for religious education to be presented in the diocese. Each parish must have its own program to serve all of its members to fulfill their particular needs."

Lawler said it was vital for religious education programs to be effective because "they may be providing all the formal education that some will receive."

He married Patricia Fullerton in 1950 and the couple had three sons, Peter, Thomas and Gregory. Pat Lawler was a former staff writer for the Arlington Catholic HERALD and Tom served for many years on the paper’s board of directors. He also served on the board of Catholic Charities and Catholic Education for the Richmond Diocese and was president of the Federation of Catholic Parent-Teacher Organizations of Northern Virginia.

"Tom provided invaluable wisdom and insight as a HERALD board member during the early years of the papers existence," said HERALD Editor and General Manager Michael F. Flach. "He always made sure that we followed our mission statement, which is to support the evangelization efforts of the bishop and the Magisterium of the Church."

In addition to the catechism, he is the author of St. Augustine, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany and the Letters of St. Jerome. He was editor of the prestigious Ancient Christian Writers series published by Paulist Press and co-editor of The Gift of Faith. His work has appeared in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, The Catholic Educational Review, The Josephinum Review and the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree on Aug. 1, 1987, from former Arlington Bishop John R. Keating at the commencement exercises of the Notre Dame Pontifical Institute.

The Lawlers were longtime members of St. Rita Parish in Alexandria before moving to Falcon’s Landing about 10 years ago.

A funeral Mass is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 1:30 p.m. at Falcon’s Landing. The celebrant will be Father Kris D. Stubna, S.T.D., secretary for education in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and co-editor of the catechism’s fifth edition.