University of Notre Dame
Which school did Robert Barron go to in 1977?
Robert Barron Robert Emmet Barron ( born November 19 , 1959 ) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church serving as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles . He is the founder of the Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire , and was the host of the TV series Catholicism , an award-winning documentary about the Catholic faith which aired on PBS . Previously , he served as rector at Mundelein Seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago . Barron has published numerous 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 . Barrons website , WordOnFire.org , is viewed by millions of people each year . As one of the worlds most followed Catholics on social media , he has been informally called the bishop of social media and the bishop of the Internet . , his regular YouTube videos have been viewed over 50 million times ; he has over 3 million followers on Facebook , 260,000 on Instagram , and 166,000 on Twitter . In addition , 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 in Kraków , Poland , and the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia , which marked Pope Franciss visit to the United States . The bishops latest film series , Catholicism : The Pivotal Players , debuted in September 2016 and has been syndicated for national television in the United States . Barron is a proponent of Hans Urs von Balthasars “dare we hope” theory of universal salvation , declaring there is objective ground for a hope that all men may be saved . Early life . Robert Emmet 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 . He has a sister and a brother , John Barron , who is the Sun-Times Media Groups publisher and senior vice-president of news and editorial operations . Formation . Barron discovered the teaching of St . Thomas Aquinas when he was a freshman at Fenwick High School , a private Dominican high school . Aquinass teaching was formative for Barron and continues to be influential in his theology . He transferred to Benet Academy , a private Benedictine high school , where he graduated in 1977 . Barron attended the University of Notre Dame for a year before transferring to Mundelein Seminary in Chicago . One year later , he was accepted as a Basselin Scholar at the School of Theology of the Catholic University of America , where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1981 and a Master of Arts in philosophy in 1982 ; his masters thesis was on the political philosophy of Karl Marx . Barron earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from Mundelein Seminary in 1986 and was ordained on May 24 , 1986 , by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin . After serving as an associate pastor of St . Paul of the Cross Catholic Church in Park Ridge 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 also fluent in French , Spanish , German , and Latin . Priestly ministry . 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 . He also served as president-rector from 2012 to 2015 . He lectured extensively in the United States and internationally , including the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical University of St . Thomas Aquinas in Rome . The late Cardinal Francis George called Barron one of the Churchs best messengers . He started his Word On Fire platform in the year 2000 . In 2002 he was a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame 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 Rome , in 2007 and 2010 . Episcopate . On July 21 , 2015 , Pope Francis appointed Barron an auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and titular Bishop of Macriana in Mauritania . Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles gave each of the three forthcoming auxiliary bishops pectoral crosses modeled after the one Pope Francis wears , noting that Barrons media talent and rapport with young people , as well as his outreach to other faiths and to the world of culture ( including with non-believers and non-practicing or fallen away Catholics ) and education , would be good for the archdiocese . Archbishop Cupich said he would be of great benefit to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles , citing his work with Word on Fire , his doctoral training in theology and parish service in Chicago , his social media presence , and his administrative service to him and his two predecessors , Cardinal George and Cardinal Bernardin , especially since his appointment as rector and president of the seminary . On September 8 , 2015 , Barron was consecrated as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels by Archbishop José H . Gomez . Media works . 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 . Barrons Word on Fire website offers daily blogs , articles , commentaries and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts . In September 2015 , Barron and Word on Fire content director Brandon Vogt 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 on faith and culture for The Chicago Tribune , NBC Nightly News , Fox News Channel , Our Sunday Visitor , the Catholic Herald ( London , UK ) and The Catholic New World . Internet . Barrons website reaches millions of people each year . The site hosts daily blog posts , weekly articles and video commentaries , and an extensive audio archive of over 500 homilies . His homilies are heard by tens of thousands of listeners each week , and over 400,000 people receive his daily email reflections . Barron is one of the most-followed Catholics in the world on social media . His work has garnered : - 3.2 million+ Facebook followers - 416,000+ YouTube subscribers - 316,000+ Instagram followers - 175,200+ Twitter followers Videos . Barron has produced over 400 online video commentaries , which have attracted over 50 million views . His weekly , high-quality productions include brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture , including movies , books , music , current events , and more . Television . Barrons 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 nearly every public television station in America beginning in 2011 . A sequel was released in September 2013 , titled Catholicism : The New Evangelization . In October 2010 , he began presenting a half-hour television show , Word on Fire with Father Barron , on WGN America on Sundays . 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 conversational 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 multiple radio stations to millions of listeners . 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 ( 2011 ) - Seeds of the Word : Finding God in the Culture ( 2015 ) - 2 Samuel ( 2015 ) - Exploring Catholic Theology ( 2015 ) - Vibrant Paradoxes : The Both/And of Catholicism ( 2016 ) - To Light a Fire on the Earth : Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age ( 2017 ) - Arguing Religion ( 2018 ) - Letter to a Suffering Church : A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis ( 2019 ) - Centered : The Spirituality of Word on Fire ( 2020 ) - Renewing Our Hope : Essays for the New Evangelization ( 2020 ) 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 OConnor ( 2019 ) Distinctions . Orders . - : Order of the Holy Sepulchre Academic . - 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 Causa , Saint 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 : Fishers Net Award for Best Overall and for Best Social Media Presence - 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