Benedictine Father Thomas Acklin, 60, was born in Sewickley, and raised in Aliquippa, both in Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. He has three brothers and three sisters. Father Tom, as he’s often known, graduated from Duquesne University and later entered St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, and St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Penn. He spent four years in Belgium at the Catholic University of Louvain. Father Acklin was ordained a Benedictine of St. Vincent in 1980 at St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica in Latrobe. He taught at St. Vincent College and Seminary for 30 years and was rector there for 12 years. Because he has a brother who lives in Hawaii, in 2008 Father Tom chose to spend a sabbatical year in Hawaii at St. Augustine,Waikiki, and Sts. Peter and Paul, Ala Moana. He’s now back indefinitely. On Feb. 1, he began his assignment as an associate pastor at St. Stephen/Blessed Sacrament Parishes in Nuuanu/Pauoa Valley and is the chaplain of the Oahu Latin Mass Community. Father Tom answered eight-plus questions for this column.

1. Did you have another career before deciding to become a priest?

I taught briefly and was a Top 40 radio disc jockey and announcer. I have also worked in radio and television as a priest. If I wasn’t a priest, I’d be a psychologist. In fact I have trained as a psychoanalyst, a skill I’ve used throughout my priesthood.

2. Any favorite Bible passages?

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) These are St. John the Baptist’s words when asked if he was the Messiah. As a priest, I have a special privilege to stand in the person of Christ, but that doesn’t change the fact that my role is to point others to Christ. To do that, I have to die to myself to really show others Christ.

3. Do you have any pets?

I had a cute min pin (miniature pinscher) named Philo during my sabbatical here in Hawaii in 2008 to 2009, but he died shortly after I took him back to the mainland. I love animals of all kinds.

4. What are some of your favorite things?

I like listening to KPOI 105.9 for classic rock. Favorite food is meat of all kinds but I like all foods, I’m afraid. For a movie I like Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” because it comes closest to showing the overwhelming love of God in Christ.

5. How about TV?

I watch FOX News and I follow “Lost” very closely. Of all the things on TV, “Lost”’s characters are so well developed and the show is really good at displaying the different sides of personality. My favorite character is definitely Hugo/Hurley. I also like the speculative stuff about alternate universes. They’re showing that our concept of linear time is really limited and there might be more to it than that. The show’s also playing with a lot of religions, which can be bad because it might water them down. But I’m interested to see where they go with it all.

6. What’s the Church’s biggest challenge today?

We Catholics need to become Christ-filled in order to witness to him in a credible way. For me personally, a challenge has been dealing with the clergy sex abuse crisis, counseling abusers and those abused. But especially challenging has been trying to support priests and bishops and the Church against unfair accusations and attacks.

7. Who are your heroes?

Pope John Paul II had the most powerful influence on the Church and the world in modern times. I also consider St. Damien of Molokai to be a personal hero. When I was living in Louvain, I would go pray at his tomb never dreaming I’d be in Hawaii. Now being here, and with the canonization just happening, it seems like a complete circle.

8. How about favorite saint?

I love them all, but I would say that after the Blessed Mother, I would choose Saint Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower.”

9. What do you like to read?

Currently I’m reading “History of the Catholic Mission in Hawaii” by Sacred Hearts Father Reginald Yzendoorn and I’m greatly enjoying finding out about that early period in the church here. My favorite book is Michael Kent’s “The Mass of Brother Michel” because it deepened my love of the priesthood and the Eucharist.

10. Besides Father Tom, do you have another nickname?

“Papa Bear,” a name given to me by the seminarians over my twelve years as rector of St. Vincent Seminary. Why? Because of my physical appearance and my personality.