Barron has published books, essays, and articles on theology and spirituality. He is a religion correspondent for NBC and has also appeared on Fox News, CNN, and EWTN. He has been informally called the "bishop of social media" and the "bishop of the Internet".[12][13]
As of November 2022[update], Barron's regular YouTube videos have been viewed over 151 million times; he has over 3 million followers on Facebook, 399,000 on Instagram, and 254,000 on X.[14][15] In addition, he has been invited to speak about religion at the headquarters of Amazon, Facebook, and Google. He has keynoted several conferences and events over the world, including the 2016 World Youth Day and the 2015 World Meeting of Families.
Barron's 2016 film series, Catholicism: The Pivotal Players,[16] was syndicated for national television in the United States.
Biography
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.[17][18] He has a sister, and a brother, John Barron, who is the Sun-Times Media Group's publisher.[19]
Barron started reading the works of Thomas Aquinas when he was a freshman at Fenwick High School, a private Dominican high school.[20][21] He transferred to Benet Academy, a private Benedictine high school, where he graduated in 1977.[22]
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".[24]
In addition to his native English, Barron is fluent in French, Spanish, German, and Latin.[25][26] He 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".[27]
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.[28] 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[29] 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
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.[30] Archbishop Cupich said he would be of great benefit to the archdiocese.[31]
On September 8, 2015, Barron received his episcopal consecration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels from Archbishop José H. Gomez.[32] That same month, Barron 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 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:
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 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.[38] 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.
^This was, according to a legend, the answer of Saint Thomas Aquinas when asked by the Lord what reward he wished for his commendable theological teaching, cf. Bene scripsisti de me.
^Barron, Robert (1993). A study of the de potentia of Thomas Aquinas in light of the Dogmatik of Paul Tillich: creation as discipleship. Lewiston, NY: Mellen. ISBN978-0-7734-2238-4.
Robert Robert Burnes Robert Roberts Robert Morris University Illinois Robert Weiner Robert the Bruce Robert Despenser Robert College Robert Livingston Robert Awards Robert Abercromby Robert D'Oyly Saint Robert Robert Guiscard Robert Day Robert Muller Robert Whitaker Robert Bristow Robert Pollack Robert–Rajasekar Robert Hayes Robert Griffin Robert Ritchie Robert Fleming Robert Cornthwaite Robert Lynn Robert Radcliffe Robert Clayton Robert Cecil Louis Robert Robert O'Neill Robert James Robert Lyons Robert King Robert Ramsay Robert Smyth Robert Curthose Robert Marshall Robert Swann Robert Coke …
Robert Newhard Robert Olson Robert Coombes Robert Halmi Robert Clifton Robert Hale (publishers) Robert Sidney Robert Jenkins Robert Cotton Robert Pooley Robert Whitney Robert Eden Robert Parker Robert Leslie Robert Clifford Robert Samuels Robert Stevenson Robert Jungk Robert Streeter Robert Austin Robert Kane Robert Schmidt Robert Traill Robert Pack Robert Pierpoint Robert Marmion Robert Milne Robert Cary Robert Paine Robert Carlisle Robert Nighthawk Robert De Niro Sr. Robert (doll) Robert Howe Robert Courtney Robert Carroll Robert Banks Robert Kent Robert Grey Robert Hicks Robert Devereux Robert Viren Robert Lang Robert Stein Robert Neill Robert Downey Robert Byrne Robert de Ferrers Robert Burke Robert Austen Robert Shulman Robert Andrew Robert Rosen Robert Freedman Robert Spence Robert Munro Robert Mac Robert Duff Robert Lucas Robert Irwin Robert Cope Robert Stitchill Robert Dickie Robert Witt Robert Honywood Robert Dyer Robert the Strong Robert Wells Robert Child Robert Connor Robert Digby Robert Zimmerman Robert Emery Robert Duggan Robert Levine Robert Oliver Robert Knollys Robert Atkyns Robert Chapman Robert Schwartz Robert Milligan Robert Crichton Robert Haywood Robert Higgin