PLYMOUTH, MA -- I'm in the midst of taking a few days of R&R with my family, but just a quick take on the appointment of Bishop-elect Robert Barron.
I was waiting for my flight early Tuesday at O'Hare when I got a text informing me that Fr. Robert Barron was named auxiliary bishop for Los Angeles. It was a day that I knew would come, I just didn't think he would be taken away from us in Chicago. As I posted on Facebook, it's Chicago's loss, but the Church's gain.
I was joyful, but also felt myself having to fight back tears. I've never met the man, but for many of us Catholic types either dipping their toes in the new media, like me, or diving in head first, Bishop-elect Barron is a hero. It felt like this was a great event, but that in a way, he's too good to be made a bishop. It's like a talented professor who gets swept up into the school administration. He deserves the promotion, but will he be using his real talents? If Archbishop Gomez is wise he won't have Bishop Barron spending all his time performing confirmations and sitting on finance committees, but continuing his media ministry.
The comparison is often made of Fr. Barron with Archbishop Fulton Sheen, and for good reason. Like Sheen, Barron has mastered the mass media of his age to spread the good news. Barron, like Sheen, uses a keen intellect and copious learning to craft a down to earth message. Both men connect well with audiences (Sheen has gotten a second career of sorts by way of repeats of his old programs on EWTN and posted to Youtube). There are many differences between the two, also. Barron doesn't have the dramatic flair of Sheen, or possess the late Archbishop's ability to spin a folksy tale or tell a joke. Like Sheen, Barron makes references to literature and other art forms out side of theology to make his points. In the case of Fr. Barron, he probably makes more references to popular culture, like movies and music, then Sheen did.
Fr. Barron is also less known outside the Catholic world then Sheen was in his day. Sheen's weekly program ran in primetime on a major network, and had incredible ratings. He was watched by Protestants and Jews as well as by Catholics. He appeared on gameshows and had his face on the cover of Time magazine when such a thing still meant something. Barron could have that broad appeal, but because of the fragmentation of the media, and the mainstream media's reluctance to put on overtly religious content, he has a tougher time breaking through to a larger audience. While he appeared as a guest commentator on NBC during the papal conclave in 2013, it was a struggle to get PBS to broadcast his Catholicism series, and at that it was presented in a truncated form. He may get hundreds of thousands of hits on Youtube, but it still hasn't made him a household name outside of Catholic circles.
Maybe that's why L.A. is his landing place, for now. It's a media capital, along with New York, and there will be great resources at his disposal. Hopefully, with God's grace, it will translate into more people hearing the message of the Gospel in a clear, engaging and relevant manner.
So, we say goodbye to Bishop-elect Robert Barron. May the Lord continue to bless his ministry and enable his gifts to be shared by the larger Church.
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