Chicago Will Miss Father Barron As He Moves To LA

In the last 6 months I’ve become more and more thankful that Fr. Barron was the rector of the largest major seminary in the United States. It seemed like an excellent fit for him because of his ability to understand the concerns and questions of the college-aged and to share his tools and talents for the new evangelization with priests-to-be. 

Now however it seems he is being called to Los Angeles as an auxiliary bishop – here is his response:

It was with enormous surprise that I received word of my appointment as auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, but it is with a humble and joyful heart that I accept it. The Church of Los Angeles—the most populous in the United States—is energetic, diverse, and creative. Over the years, I’ve visited many times, including multiple trips to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in Anaheim; most recently, I was in the Archdiocese for a lecture at Thomas Aquinas College. So though I can’t claim to know it well, I have been able to taste and see some of its richness.

The late Francis Cardinal George—the spiritual grandfather of Word on Fire—was a mentor and friend to me. The mission closest to his heart was the evangelization of the culture, bringing Christ to the arenas of media, politics, law, education, the arts, etc. I can’t think of a more exciting field for this sort of work than Los Angeles, which is certainly one of the great cultural centers of our time.

Many might be wondering what this means for the important work of Word on Fire. The short answer is that it will certainly continue! Through the ministrations of Fr. Steve Grunow and his extremely gifted staff, we will keep bringing you my regular articles, sermons, videos, and media resources.

We have so many projects in the works, including our new film and study program on God and atheism, titled The Mystery of God, and our beautiful new documentary series CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players. Those projects will continue as planned with more to come in the future.

I am grateful to all of you who follow and support Word on Fire, using our content to form yourselves and share the Catholic Faith. I thank God each and every day for you.

It is a blessing for me to work with you to introduce people to Jesus Christ and invite them to share all the gifts he wants his people to enjoy.

Please pray for me as I begin this new adventure under the Lord’s providence.

– Bishop-Elect Robert Barron

What a loss for Chicago and gain for LA! It’s also good to hear he visited Thomas Aquinas College and I’m sure he’ll make a great team with Archbishop Gomez.

I must admit at first I was confused about such a choice to have him leave the young men of the Chicago Archdiocese behind. On the other hand, maybe he is one of the few stars that can handle the egocentric Hollywood film culture in LA (among others), and at the same time produce something on par with the wider popularity of Life Is Worth Living.

The original WOF story is here.