Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religious Music & Entertainment
Father Barron to Be L.A.’s Bishop Barron

Father Barron to Be L.A.’s Bishop Barron

Last updated on: July 21, 2015 at 6:08 am by Kate O'Hare

Father Barron to Be L.A.’s Bishop Barron 2015-07-21T06:08:37-08:00 Kate O'Hare

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s such an obviously awesome and appropriate move that one can hardly believe that the Vatican actually did it.

Father Robert Barron, founder of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, producer of top-quality video content such as the groundbreaking documentary “Catholicism,” for which he was also host, is coming to Hollywood.

Pope Francis has named Barron — along with Monsignor Joseph V. Brennan and Monsignor David G. O’Connell — as auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Bishop-Elect Barron will be leaving his post as rector of Mundelein Seminary in Chicago to come to the media hub of the world, and apparently he didn’t see it coming.

“It was a complete surprise,” he told The Tidings, the newspaper of the L.A. Archdiocese, adding, “I want to be present to the people of the Archdiocese.”

That means his duty to his new flock won’t take second place to his TV and speaking duties, but it’s hard to imagine that his media outreach won’t become part of his regular duties.

For a taste of what Barron has been doing, click here for his YouTube channel.

As to his fellow bishops-elect, from the blog Whispers in the Loggia:

In a stunning move, at Roman Noon this Tuesday, the Pope named the 55 year-old rector/president of the Windy City’s Mundelein Seminary as one of three auxiliary bishops for the nation’s largest local church — the 5 million-member archdiocese of Los Angeles — alongside two of its most well-regarded mainstays: Msgr Joseph Brennan, 61, the career pastor turned lead vicar-general to Archbishop José Gomez, and the Irish-born Msgr David O’Connell, 61, whose decades of ministry in LA’s violence-torn South Central corridor arguably comprise the Stateside bench’s most potent example yet of the “peripheries” Francis insistently wants present at the church’s center.

Barron’s media reach is already considerable, as outlined in Aleteia:

Bishop-elect Barron is the founder of Word on Fire, a ministry that uses new media to “draw people into or back to the Catholic Faith,” according to its website. The ministry came to the fore in 2011, with a stunning production called “Catholicism,” which took the view through the history of the Church in a series of 10 one-hour programs. The series aired on hundreds of PBS stations, reminding some viewers of the 1970s series “Civilization.” It was, in fact, Sir Kenneth Clark’s BBC series that inspired Bishop Barron to produce “Catholicism,” he has said.

Since then, Bishop-Elect Barron and Word on Fire also released the follow-up documentary “Catholicism: The New Evangelization” (2013) and are wrapping up “Catholicsm: The Pivotal Players,” a series on the mystics, scholars, artists, and saints who shaped the Church and changed the world. The series is set to debut in Fall 2016.

Bishop-Elect Barron’s website, WordOnFire.org, hosts daily blog posts, weekly articles and video commentaries, and an extensive audio archive of over 500 homilies. Bishop-Elect Barron’s homilies are heard by tens of thousands of visitors each week. His regular YouTube videos have been viewed over 13 million times, and over 250,000 people receive his daily email reflections during Lent and Advent.

In a statement (via Catholic News Agency, or CNA), Chicago native Barron said:

It was with enormous surprise that I heard the word of my appointment last week, but it is with a humble and joyful heart that I have accepted it.

I am grateful to Pope Francis for his confidence in me and to Archbishop Gomez for his willingness to allow me to minister in this beautiful, richly diverse, and spiritually vibrant Church.

The CNA story continues:

Ordained to the priesthood in 1986 for the archdiocese of Chicago, Fr. Barron said it was his “mentor,” the late Cardinal George, who taught him “the central importance of evangelizing the culture, bringing the power of Christ to the arenas of politics, law, the arts, higher education, the media, and entertainment.”

“This has been my preoccupation over the years, informing my work as teacher, writer, and evangelist,” he said, adding: “I cannot imagine a more exciting field for this sort of endeavor than Los Angeles, one of the great cultural capitals of the world.”

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez will hold a press conference today at 10 a.m. (Pacific time) to discuss the news. It can be watched via a livestream broadcast here.

In a statement (via Aleteia), Archbishop Gomez said:

I think it is clear that in appointing these new auxiliary bishops, Pope Francis really understands what the Church needs — not just here in Los Angeles, but also in the United States and across the Americas. I believe each of these new auxiliary bishops will help us in our mission here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles — the beautiful mission we have of sharing the love of God and the message of Jesus Christ and promoting human dignity and mercy and justice in our society.

It does appear that Pope Francis, while he usually has his eye on other parts of the world, has at least one ear attuned to the needs of American Catholics. With Bishop Fulton Sheen far in the past, and EWTN’s Mother Angelica no longer an active force on TV, the Church has been lacking an effective, polished and powerful media personality. The appointment of Bishop-Elect Barron to the L.A. Archdiocese could be a fantastic tool for the New Evangelization.

As one L.A. Catholic friend of mine remarked on hearing the news, “So stoked!”

I second that emotion.

UPDATE: Patheos’ Tom Zampino has Barron’s full statement here.

Image: Courtesy WordonFire.org

Don’t miss a thing: head over to my other home at CatholicVote and like my Facebook page.

Previous Post

July 19, 2015

Spike's 'Tut': Alexander Siddig Learns to Preach Like an Egyptian

Next Post

July 22, 2015 'Sharknado 3': Fin, Fatherhood & Saving the World

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books breaking news digital media Faith practice food interview jane the virgin media movies music NFL Pope Francis Showbiz 101 social media sports technology television Uncategorized video

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz