The Very Rev. Robert Barron, S.T.D. (born 1959, Chicago) is a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. On May 11, 2012, Fr. Barron was appointed Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary/University of Saint Mary of the Lake by Francis Cardinal George, a role he assumed in July 2012.^[1] He is also an author, scholar and Catholic evangelist.

Biography [edit]

Robert Barron was born November 19, 1959 in Chicago. 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 a food distributor.^[2] He has a sister and a brother John Barron, who is the Sun-Times Media Group's Publisher and Senior Vice-President of news and editorial operations.^[3]

Education [edit]

Father Robert Barron discovered St. Thomas Aquinas, the medieval philosopher and theologian, when he was a freshman in high school.

My interest in the priesthood was awakened one spring day in 1974 at Fenwick High School outside of Chicago. A young Dominican friar presented Thomas Aquinas' argument from motion for God's existence to my freshman religion class. I'm not quite sure why this should have been the case, but that lecture lit a fire in me. I became convinced of the reality of God in a way that I hadn't been before, and I wanted to learn more and more about philosophy and theology.^[4]

He transferred to Benet Academy and graduated from that high school in 1978. ^[5] He was ordained in May 1986.

• M.A., Catholic University of America, (Philosophy) summa cum laude

Thesis: "Production and the Political Animal in the Writings of Karl Marx"
Advisor: Daniel Dahlstrom

• S.T.L, University of St. Mary of the Lake, (1986) summa cum laude

Thesis: "A Consideration of the Two Natures Doctrine of Chalcedon in Light of the Essence-Existence Metaphysics of Aquinas"
Advisor: John Shea

• S.T.D., Institut Catholique de Paris, (1992) très honorable

Dissertation: Creation as Discipleship: A Study of the De potentia of Thomas Aquinas in Light of the Dogmatik of Paul Tillich (published by the Edwin Mellen Press in 1993)
Advisor: Michel Corbin

In addition to his native English, Fr. Robert also is fluent in French, Spanish, German and Latin.

Priesthood [edit]

Ordained in 1986, Fr. Barron is the Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at University of St. Mary of the Lake near Chicago. Fr. Barron lectures extensively in the United States and abroad, including the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Cardinal George calls Fr. Barron “one of the Church’s best messengers.”

Fr. Barron served as associate pastor at St. Paul of the Cross parish in Park Ridge, Illinois from 1986-1989. He is a prominent theologian. Since 1992 he is the Professor of Systematic Theology at University of St. Mary of the Lake. In 2002 he was a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame^[6] and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican in 2007 and 2010.

Media [edit]

In 2000 Fr. Barron launched "Word on Fire Catholic Ministries", a non-profit organization, that supports his evangelistic endeavors. Word on Fire programs, featuring Fr. Barron, have been broadcast regularly on WGN America, EWTN, Relevant Radio and the Word on Fire YouTube Channel. Fr. Barron's Word on Fire website offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts.

Fr. Barron lectures extensively in the United States and abroad and he has published numerous books, essays and DVD programs. He is a frequent commentator on faith and culture for The Chicago Tribune, NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel, Our Sunday Visitor, The Catholic Herald in London and The Catholic New World. His lectures have also been featured in multiple titles distributed through Lighthouse Catholic Media^[7]

Books [edit]

• Catholicism; 2011
• Eucharist; 2008
• Word on Fire: Proclaiming the Power of Christ; 2008
• The Priority of Christ: Toward a Post-Liberal Catholicism; June 2007
• Bridging the Great Divide: Musings of a Post-Liberal, Post-Conservative,Evangelical Catholic; 2004
• The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path; 2002
• Heaven in Stone and Glass; 2000
• And Now I See: A Theology of Transformation; 1998
• Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master; 1996
• A Study of the De potentia of Thomas Aquinas in Light of the Dogmatik of Paul Tillich; 1993

DVDs [edit]

• Untold Blessings: The Three Paths of Holiness, July 2005
• Conversion to Christ, 2006
• Faith Clips, 2007
• Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues, 2007
• Eucharist, 2009

Television [edit]

His DVDs are aired on EWTN - the Eternal Word Television Network - Salt + Light Television, Catholic TV and NET TV.

He has filmed a 10-part documentary, The Catholicism Project, (journeying to 16 countries to tell the story of the Church) which will air on public television in 2011.

In October 2010 he began presenting a half-hour television show, Word on Fire with Father Barron, on WGN America on Sundays at 8:30 am Central.^[8] Fr. Barron is the first priest since Archbishop Fulton Sheen in the 1950s to have a regular, national program on a commercial television network.

Radio [edit]

His radio show, also called "Word on Fire," is heard on Sunday nights at 7:00 pm on Relevant Radio.

Honors and awards [edit]

• 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".

External links [edit]

• "Word on Fire" official website
• "The Catholicism Project" on Facebook
• Fr.Barron on Twitter
• Catholicism Home

References [edit]