Bishop Barron brings it...

[Michie]

“A Catholic university is one in which Christ holds the central integrating and organizing place among the circle of disciplines and activities at the university.”

This was the thesis of Bishop Robert Barron in one of the best statements I have encountered about the purpose of the Catholic University, delivered to a packed ballroom here at the University of Notre Dame on March 2, 2003. Here is his address.

Bishop Barron easily vies for the lead evangelist in the Catholic Church in the United States. His model and hero is Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who wrote books, gave talks, and hosted a popular television show for decades in the mid-twentieth century. I have followed Barron’s work for years from his monograph, The Priority of Christ, to his videos series, Catholicism, to his hundreds of homilies, podcasts, and videos engaging passages in the Bible and cultural phenomena from baseball to Bob Dylan to Jordan Peterson.

“Because Christ is the incarnate logos, the Word and mind of God,” all of the disciplines “must find their center in Him,” argued Bishop Barron at Notre Dame, continuing on to say that “a great Catholic university is one where the relationship between Christ the Logos and all the other disciplines and activities is explored and celebrated.”

Continued below.

Bishop Barron Brings It - arcoftheuniverse

"A Catholic university is one in which Christ holds the central integrating and organizing place among the circle of disciplines and activities at the university." This was the thesis of Bishop Robert Barron in one of the best statements I have encountered about the purpose of the Catholic...

arcoftheuniverse.info

 

[concretecamper]

I'm not a fan of Bishop Barron, at best I'm ambivalent. I've read both Barron and Sheen, and Barron ain't no Sheen.

 

[Michie]

I'm not a fan of Bishop Barron, at best I'm ambivalent. I've read both Barron and Sheen, and Barron ain't no Sheen.

Absolutely not. Still waiting for Sheen’s canonization. Strange little incident that is.

 

[narnia59]

I'm not a fan of Bishop Barron, at best I'm ambivalent. I've read both Barron and Sheen, and Barron ain't no Sheen.

Well, one thing they both have in common -- the crowd that believes Francis isn't a legitimate pope would brand both Barron and Sheen as heretics. They think Sheen went way too far in ecumenism and his support of Vatican II.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

I find Bishop Barron to be Milqtoast.

 

[narnia59]

I find Bishop Barron to be Milqtoast.

That shouldn't be surprising. His ministry has primarily been an outreach to the culture who doesn't know Christ or his Church. As St. Paul said, "I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready." So of course he seems like milquetoast to someone who knows the faith well. If you approach our current culture with a heavy hand you're going to get nowhere. So he works to engage people in dialog with the hope something will touch them. It's important to remember his target audience and what has been the primary purpose of his ministry.

To date the only thing he's done that's really troubled me is writing the forward for James Martin's book on prayer. For all I know it's a very good book, but just associating himself with Martin in any way was an indiscretion at best. But he does not seem to have given his endorsement to Martin's overall ministry efforts at all.