Early life

Robert Barron was born on November 19, 1959, in Chicago. He is of Irish descent. 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.^[9][10] He has a sister and a brother, John Barron, who is the Sun-Times Media Group's publisher.^[11]

Barron started reading the works of Thomas Aquinas when he was a freshman at Fenwick High School, a private Dominican high school.^[12][13] He transferred to Benet Academy, a private Benedictine high school, where he graduated in 1977.^[14]

Barron attended the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, for a year before transferring to Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. One year later, he was accepted as a Basselin Scholar at the School of Theology of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1981 and a Master of Philosophy degree in 1982; his master's thesis was on the political philosophy of Karl Marx. Barron earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from Mundelein Seminary in 1986.

Priesthood

Barron was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 24, 1986, by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.

After serving as an associate pastor of St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Parish in Park Ridge, Illinois, from 1986 to 1989, he was sent to France and earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992. His dissertation was titled "Creation as Discipleship: A Study of the De potentia of Thomas Aquinas in Light of the Dogmatik of Paul Tillich".

In addition to his native English, Barron is fluent in French, Spanish, German, and Latin. Barron is a proponent of Hans Urs von Balthasar's "dare we hope" theology, declaring there is "objective ground" for a "hope that all men may be saved".^[15]

From 1992 until 2015, Barron was a professor of systematic theology at University of St. Mary of the Lake, where he was also named the inaugural Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture in 2008.^[16] He also served as president–rector from 2012 to 2015.

Barron lectured extensively in the United States and internationally, including the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. 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 2002, Barron was a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame^[17] and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar-in-residence at the Pontifical North American College, in 2007 and 2010.

Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles

Coat of Arms as Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles

On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Barron an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and titular bishop of Macriana in Mauritania.^[1] Archbishop José Horacio Gomez noted that Barron's media talent and rapport with young people, as well as his outreach to other faiths would be good for the archdiocese.^[18] Archbishop Cupich said he would be of great benefit to the archdiocese.^[19]

On September 8, 2015, Barron received his episcopal consecration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels from Archbishop José H. Gomez.^[20] That same month, Barron started a weekly podcast called The Word on Fire Show.

Bishop of Winona–Rochester

Bishop Barron in Minnesota in 2023

On June 2, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Barron as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, in southern Minnesota.^[21] His installation there took place on July 29, 2022, at the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Rochester, Minnesota.

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

Internet

Barron's website hosts daily blog posts, weekly articles and video commentaries, and an audio archive of over 500 homilies. Barron has the following social media figures:

• 3.1 million+ Facebook followers^[22]
• 555,000+ YouTube subscribers^[23]
• 351,000+ Instagram followers^[24]
• 205,000+ Twitter followers^[25]

Videos

Barron has produced over 1,000 online video commentaries, which have attracted over 84 million views. His weekly productions include brief theological reviews of contemporary culture, including movies, books, music, and current events.

Television

Barron's videos are aired on CatholicTV, EWTN, Telecare, NET TV, and Salt + Light Television. He created a 10-part documentary, Catholicism, filmed in 16 countries, which aired on public television in the United States in beginning in 2011. A sequel was released in September 2013, titled Catholicism: The New Evangelization.

In October 2010, Barron premiered a half-hour television show, Word on Fire with Father Barron, on WGN America on Sundays.^[26] 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

Barron produces a weekly podcast on faith and culture titled The Word on Fire Show, which has been downloaded over ten million times. His weekly homilies and podcasts air on radio stations around the United States.

Barron has appeared on other podcasts, including the podcasts of Jordan Peterson,^[27] Lex Fridman,^[28] and Ben Shapiro.^[29]

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: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith (2011)
• New King for a New Kingdom (2012)
• The New Evangelization and the New Media (2014)
• Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture (2015)
• 2 Samuel. Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (2015)
• Exploring Catholic Theology: Essays on God, Liturgy, and Evangelization (2015)
• Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism (2016)
• To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age (2017) ^[30]
• Arguing Religion: A Bishop Speaks at Facebook and Google (2018)^[31]
• Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis (2019)^[32]
• Centered: The Spirituality of Word on Fire (2020)
• The Pivotal Players: 12 Heroes Who Shaped the Church and Changed the World (2020)
• Renewing Our Hope: Essays for the New Evangelization (2020)
• The Rosary with Bishop Robert Barron (2021)
• Light from Light: A Theological Reflection on the Nicene Creed (2021)
• Proclaiming the Power of Christ: Classic Sermons (2021)
• Redeeming the Time: Gospel Perspectives on the Challenges of the Hour (2022)
• The Great Story of Israel: Election, Freedom, Holiness (2022)
• This is My Body: A Call to Eucharistic Revival (2023)
• Come Lord Jesus: Timeless Homilies for Advent and Christmas (2023)
• 2023 Advent Gospel Reflections (2023)

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 Volume I (2016)
• David the King (2017)
• The Mass (2018)
• Catholicism: The Pivotal Players St. Augustine & St. Benedict (2018)
• Catholicism: The Pivotal Players Fulton Sheen & Flannery O'Connor (2019)
• The Sacraments (2020)
• The Creed (2021)

Orders

•  Holy See:
  • Order of the Holy Sepulchre^[33]

Honorary academic awards

• 2023: Doctor of Public Service, Honoris Causa Hillsdale College
• 2022: Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa Benedictine College
• 2019: Doctor of Theology, Honoris Causa Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
• 2018: Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa Assumption College
• 2017: Doctor of Divinity, Honoris CausaSaint 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^[34]
• 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"