Robert Barron

Barron was born on November 19, 1959, in Chicago and spent his childhood first in Detroit and then in a Chicago suburb.⁠[1]

He received a master’s degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in Washington in 1982, a licentiate in sacred theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in 1986, and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992.⁠[2]

On May 24, 1986, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago; after three years as an associate pastor he was sent to the Institut Catholique de Paris for his doctorate, and from 1992 to 2015 he taught theology at Mundelein Seminary.⁠[1]

His first assignment after ordination was as associate pastor at St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Park Ridge, Illinois.⁠[3]

As a young priest in Chicago he broadcast his homilies on a local radio station, drawing the attention of Cardinal Francis George, who urged him to share his gifts more widely; with George’s support he founded Word on Fire, a nonprofit media apostolate.⁠[4]

Word on Fire was launched in 2000.⁠[5]

In 2011 his ten-episode documentary series Catholicism, filmed in at least 50 locations in 15 countries and surveying 2,000 years of Catholic history and belief, aired on PBS affiliates in more than 85 markets; WGN America also carried his weekly show, the first regular commercial television show hosted by a priest since Fulton Sheen.⁠[6]

Reviewer Steven D. Greydanus called the series positive and nonpolemical, though episodes on the Virgin Mary and the Eucharist would challenge non-Catholic sensibilities.⁠[6]

From 2012 he served as rector and president of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. By 2015 he had written 12 books, and his YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry videos had been viewed more than 13 million times.⁠[7]

On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis named him, together with Joseph V. Brennan and David G. O’Connell, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Word on Fire’s programs were then broadcast regularly on WGN America, EWTN, Relevant Radio and the Word on Fire YouTube channel.⁠[8]

On September 8, 2015, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, joined by Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich and others, ordained him and the two other auxiliary bishops at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, with more than 500 priests and 45 bishops concelebrating.⁠[3]

After his ordination he became episcopal vicar for the archdiocese’s Santa Barbara Pastoral Region.⁠[9]

In 2016 Word on Fire released Volume I of the documentary series CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players, comprising six episodes; the episodes on Michelangelo and St. Francis of Assisi aired on PBS affiliates from November 13, 2016.⁠[10]

David A. King, an associate professor of English and film studies at Kennesaw State University, called the series a fine sequel to Catholicism, while describing the earlier Catholicism: The New Evangelization as a disappointment.⁠[5]

From 2017 to 2020 he chaired the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, and in 2018 he was one of five bishops elected by the conference as U.S. delegates to the Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment at the Vatican.⁠[11]

In May 2019 Word on Fire published his short book on the clergy sexual abuse scandals, Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis, sold for $1 with profits going to organizations supporting victims; he urged angry Catholics to “stay and fight” and called for a full investigation of the McCarrick case.⁠[12]

He said he wrote it after encountering the tears and bitterness of the faithful during pastoral visits in the Santa Barbara region.⁠[12]

Reviewing it for Catholic News Service, Dawn Eden Goldstein called the book pugilistic and often polemical, “heavy on seething, light on healing,” and faulted it for not discussing how readers might accompany victims or naming the organizations it supports.⁠[13]

On June 2, 2022, Pope Francis appointed him the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; in a statement he said Word on Fire’s work would continue, including the Word on Fire Institute, the Word on Fire Bible series and its Liturgy of the Hours initiative.⁠[14]

On July 20, 2022, he appeared on episode #304 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, titled “Christianity and the Catholic Church”; the outline covers God, sin, the Trinity, Catholicism, the sexual abuse scandal, evil, atheism, Jordan PetersonJordan PetersonJordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist, author and podcast host who taught at Harvard University and the University of Toronto; he drew wide attention for publicly opposing Canada’s Bill C-16 in 2016 and the ensuing free-speech debate, wrote the bestseller 12 Rules for Life and founded the online education platform Peterson Academy.Open the full entry, the Bible, Nietzsche, Word on Fire, gay marriage and abortion.⁠[15]

On July 29, 2022, he was installed as the ninth bishop of Winona-Rochester in Rochester, succeeding Bishop John M. Quinn; in his homily he stressed worship, service of the poor and evangelization.⁠[4]

On July 27, 2024, he said on social media that a segment of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony was a “gross mockery of the Last Supper,” asked whether the organizers would dare mock Islam in a similar way, and urged Christians to make their voices heard.⁠[16]

Olympics spokeswoman Anne Descamps apologized, and artistic director Thomas Jolly said the scene drew on Greek myth and depicted Dionysus, with no mockery intended; Barron then called the explanation and apology “a masterpiece of woke duplicity.”⁠[17]

On May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order at a National Day of Prayer ceremony establishing the Religious Liberty Commission, chaired by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick; Barron was appointed a member and offered a prayer for the country at the ceremony.⁠[18]

In April 2026, after President Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV on social media, Barron wrote on X that the remarks were “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful” and that the president owed the pope an apology, while acknowledging ways the administration had reached out to Catholics and recommending that Catholics in the administration meet Vatican officials for dialogue; Trump said he would not apologize.⁠[19]

As of April 2026 his YouTube channel had about 2.5 million subscribers.⁠[19]

X: Public account: https://x.com/BishopBarron (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

Word on Fire Catholic Ministries: Official website: https://www.wordonfire.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

Diocese of Winona-Rochester: Official website: https://www.dowr.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[1]