About Fr. James McTavish

Fr. James McTavish, FMVD, MD, STL, is a Verbum Dei missionary, currently assigned in Rome as a General Counselor of his community. He is originally from Scotland. He did his undergraduate studies in medicine at Cambridge University, England. He graduated as a medical doctor in 1992, pursuing a career in surgery, eventually gaining his fellowship in general surgery with the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. While specializing in pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgery, he met the Verbum Dei missionaries in Sydney, Australia. He entered religious life in 1999, spending his formation years in Cebu and Mindanao, Philippines, before finishing his studies in Rome, receiving a license in moral theology from the Accademia Alfonsiana (Redemptorist Higher Institute of Moral Theology in Rome) and a MA in bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, Rome. He has published various articles in the Linacre Quarterly (of the Catholic Medical Association, USA) as well as for the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. He combines his teaching with an active apostolate, helping to form the laity in prayer and evangelization.