Robert Barron (bishop)

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 1978. 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, it was announced by the Holy See that Pope Francis had 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. His lectures have also been featured in multiple titles distributed through Lighthouse Catholic Media

Television

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

He filmed a 10-part documentary, The Catholicism Project, 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

Barron's radio show, also called Word on Fire, is heard on Sunday nights in the United States at 7:00 pm on Relevant Radio.

Books

DVDs

Orders

Academic

Awards