Biography:Robert Barron (bishop)

Ordination history of Robert Barron
History Episcopal consecration Consecrated by José Horacio Gómez Date September 8, 2015

Robert Emmet Barron (born November 19, 1959) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church currently serving as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is the founder of the Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire, and was the host of the TV series CATHOLICISM, an award-winning documentary about the Catholic faith, which aired on PBS. Previously, he served as rector at Mundelein Seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Bishop Barron has published numerous books, essays, and articles on theology and the spiritual life. He is a religion correspondent for NBC and has also appeared on Fox News, CNN, and EWTN. Barron's website, WordOnFire.org, reaches millions of people each year, and he is one of the world's most followed Catholics on social media. His regular YouTube videos have been viewed over 30 million times and he has over 1.5 million followers on Facebook. In addition, has been invited to speak about religion at the headquarters of both Facebook and Google. He has keynoted many conferences and events all over the world, including the 2016 World Youth Day in Kraków and the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which marked Pope Francis's historic visit to the United States.

The bishop's latest film series and study program, CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players, debuted in September 2016 and has been syndicated for national television.

Early life

Robert Emmet Barron was born on November 19, 1959, in Chicago . He spent his childhood first in Detroit, then in the Chicago suburb of Western Springs. His mother was a homemaker, and his father, who died in 1987, was a national sales manager for John Sexton & Company, a national food distributor. He has a sister and a brother, John Barron, who is the Sun-Times Media Group's publisher and senior vice-president of news and editorial operations.

Education

Barron discovered Thomas Aquinas when he was a freshman in high school. He transferred to Benet Academy, a private Benedictine high school, where he graduated in 1977. He was ordained a priest on May 24, 1986 by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. He earned his M.A. at Catholic University of America, where he had won the Basselin Scholarship in philosophy and public speaking, with the thesis "Production and the Political Animal in the Writings of Karl Marx". He is a Doctor of Sacred Theology under the pontifical system from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992. His thesis was "Creation as Discipleship: A Study of the De potentia of Thomas Aquinas in Light of the Dogmatik of Paul Tillich", which was published by Edwin Mellen Press in 1993.

In addition to his native English, Barron is also fluent in French, Spanish, German, and Latin.

Ordination and ministry

Barron was the Professor of Faith and Culture at University of St. Mary of the Lake near Chicago until his installation as an auxiliary bishop. He lectured extensively in the United States and internationally, including the Pontifical North American College in Rome and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. The late Cardinal Francis George called Barron "one of the Church's best messengers".

Barron served as associate pastor at St. Paul of the Cross parish in Park Ridge, Illinois, from 1986 to 1989. He is a prominent theologian. Since 1992 he was the Professor of Systematic Theology at University of St. Mary of the Lake. In 2002 he was a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican, in 2007 and 2010. He was Rector of the Mundelein Seminary from 1 July 2012 to 20 July 2015.

Episcopate

On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Barron an auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and titular Bishop of Macriana in Mauritania. Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles gave each of the three forthcoming auxiliary bishops pectoral crosses modeled after the one Pope Francis wears, noting that Barron's media talent and rapport with young people, as well as his outreach to other faiths and to the world of culture (including with non-believers and non-practicing or fallen away Catholics) and education, would be good for the archdiocese. Archbishop Cupich said he would be of great benefit to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, citing his work with Word on Fire, his doctoral training in theology and parish service in Chicago, his social media presence, and his administrative service to him and his two predecessors, cardinals George and Bernardin, especially since his appointment as rector and president of the seminary.

On September 8, 2015, Barron was consecrated as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels by Archbishop José H. Gomez.

Media

In 2000 Barron launched "Word on Fire Catholic Ministries", a non-profit organization, that supports his evangelistic endeavors. Word on Fire programs, featuring Barron, have been broadcast regularly on WGN America, EWTN, Telecare, Relevant Radio and the Word on Fire YouTube Channel. Barron's Word on Fire website offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts. In September 2015, Barron and Word on Fire Content Director Brandon Vogt started a weekly podcast called The Word on Fire Show.

Barron lectures extensively in the United States and internationally and he has published numerous books, essays and DVD programs. He is a frequent commentator on faith and culture for The Chicago Tribune, NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel, Our Sunday Visitor, the Catholic Herald in London and The Catholic New World.

Internet

Bishop Barron's website, WordOnFire.org, reaches millions of people each year. The site hosts daily blog posts, weekly articles and video commentaries, and an extensive audio archive of over 500 homilies. Bishop Barron's homilies are heard by tens of thousands of listeners each week, and over 350,000 people receive his daily email reflections.

Bishop Barron is one of the most-followed Catholics in the world on social media. His work has garnered:

• 1.5 million+ Facebook fans
• 150,000+ YouTube subscribers
• 100,000+ Twitter followers

Videos

Bishop Barron has produced over 400 online video commentaries which have been attracted over 30 million views. His weekly, high-quality productions include brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture, including movies, books, music, current events, and more.

Television

Barron's videos are aired on CatholicTV, EWTN, Telecare, NET TV, and Salt + Light Television.

He filmed a 10-part documentary, CATHOLICISM, filmed in 16 countries, which aired on nearly every public television station in America beginning in 2011. A sequel was released in September 2013, CATHOLICISM: The New Evangelization.

In October 2010 he began presenting a half-hour television show, Word on Fire with Father Barron, on WGN America on Sundays. Barron is the first priest since Archbishop Fulton Sheen in the 1950s to have a regular national program on a commercial television network.

Radio/Podcast

Bishop Barron produces a weekly conversational podcast on faith and culture titled “The Word on Fire Show,” which has been downloaded over four million times. His weekly homilies and podcasts air on multiple radio stations to millions of listeners.

Books

• A Study of the De potentia of Thomas Aquinas in Light of the Dogmatik of Paul Tillich (1993)
• Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master (1996)
• And Now I See: A Theology of Transformation (1998)
• Heaven in Stone and Glass (2000)
• The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path (2002)
• Bridging the Great Divide: Musings of a Post-Liberal, Post-Conservative, Evangelical Catholic (2004)
• The Priority of Christ: Toward a Post-Liberal Catholicism (2007)
• Word on Fire: Proclaiming the Power of Christ (2008)
• Eucharist (2008)
• Catholicism (2011)
• Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture (2015)
• Exploring Catholic Theology (2015)
• Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism (2016)
• To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age (2017)

DVDs

• Untold Blessings The Three Paths of Holiness (2005)
• Conversion (2006)
• Faith Clips (2007)
• Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues (2007)
• Eucharist (2009)
• CATHOLICISM (2011)
• CATHOLICISM: The New Evangelization (2013)
• Priest, Prophet, King (2014)
• The Mystery of God (2015)
• CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players (2016)
• DAVID the KING (2017)
• The Mass (2018)

Distinctions

Orders

• Holy See: Order of the Holy Sepulchre

Academic

• 2018: Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, Assumption College
• 2017: Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa, Saint Anselm College
• 2016: Doctor of Sacred Theology, Honoris Causa, Dominican House of Studies
• 2013: Doctor of Religious Education, Honoris Causa, Providence College
• 2012: Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa, Lewis University

Awards

• 2015: Fisher's Net Award for Best Overall and for Best Social Media Presence
• 2012: Relevant Radio Christ Brings Hope Award
• 2003: Catholic Press Association Book Award: The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path
• 1998: Catholic Press Association Journalism Award: Best Article - Clergy, Religious, "The Uncanny God"
• 1997: Catholic Press Association Book Award: Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master
• 1995: Catholic Press Association Journalism Award: Best Article - Professional and Special Interest, "Priest as Bearer of the Mystery"

See also

• Catholic Church hierarchy
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops

External links

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles Official Site
• "Word on Fire" official website
• The Catholicism Project on Facebook
• Bishop Barron on Twitter
• Catholicism Home

Preceded by –

Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles 2015–present

Succeeded by –